Crown  Theological  Library 


sm^m 


m 


^mli 


si^^ 


"^ 


WHAT  IS  RELIGION? 


WHAT  IS  RELIGION? 


WILHELM    BOUSSET 

PROFESSOR  IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  GoTTINGEN 
AUTHOR  OF  "LIFE  OF  JESUS" 


TRANSLATED  BY  F.    B.    LOW 


G.    P.    PUTNAM'S    SONS 

NEW     YORK    AND     LONDON 

Xlbe   1kntcfterl?oc??er    press 

1907 


(All  rights  reserved.) 


PEBFACE 


-*o^ 


IN  an  address  to  a  body  of  clergy  delivered 
a  short  time  ago,  Dr.  Sanday,  Professor  of 
Divinity  and  Canon  of  Christ  Church,  Oxford, 
said  that  what  Germany  is  thinking  to-day 
many  circles  in  Europe  and  America  will  be 
thinking  to-morrow.  It  was  with  reference 
to  matters  of  a  religious  character  that  this 
remark  was  made.  As  an  accomplished  student 
of  the  religion  of  the  New  Testament,  Professor 
Sanday  knows  perfectly  well  that  the  Germans, 
on  the  whole,  are  at  the  present  time  doing 
more  to  promote  the  progress  of  theological 
inquiry  than  any  other  European  people. 

It  is  quite  true  that  German  professors  some- 
times startle  us  with  theories  which  are  resting 
on  the  tiniest  basis  of  fact,  and  are  more 
ingenious  than  convincing.  But  the  appearance 
from  time  to  time  of  these  daring  speculations 
must  not  make  us  forget  the  vast  amount  of 


vi  What  is   Religion  ? 

solid  and  conscientious  work  which  is  constantly 
being  produced  by  the  professors  of  theology  at 
the  various  German  universities. 

It  is  probable  that  the  people  of  Great  Britain 
and  America  take  a  deeper  interest  in  religious 
matters  than  is  the  case  in  Germany,  and  that 
religious  activity  takes  a  more  practical  form 
among  the  English-speaking  people.  But  the 
Germans  have  devoted  more  attention  to  the 
nature  of  religious  phenomena  and  the  founda- 
tions on  which  the  religious  consciousness  of 
mankind  is  based. 

If  we  want  to  know  what  religion  is,  if  we 
want  to  learn  how  it  arose  and  developed  in 
the  bosom  of  the  race,  if  we  want  a  satisfactory 
conception  of  the  place  religion  occupies  in  the 
general  scheme  of  human  thought  and  action, 
we  shall  find  that  more  has  been  thought  and 
said  upon  these  matters  in  Germany  than  any- 
where else. 

Until  recently  one  of  the  chief  difficulties 
confronting  the  spread  of  German  learning  has 
been  the  form  in  which  it  was  expressed.  Most 
German  books  dealing  with  religious  questions 
have  been  ^vritten  by  experts  for  experts ;  to 
understand  them  required  a  special  training  and 
an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  developing 
phases  of  religious  speculation.  It  is  only  a 
very  small  minority  who  can   follow  a  writer 


Preface  vii 

when  his  works  are  written  on  the  assumption 
that  the  reader  is  almost  as  much  at  home  in 
the  subject  as  he  is  himself.  Literature  of  this 
kind,  if  it  can  be  called  literature,  is  confined 
within  the  walls  of  universities  and  pro- 
duces little  or  no  impression  on  the  public  as 
a  whole. 

It  is  satisfactory  to  find  that  a  new  school 
of  writers  has  now  arisen  among  the  German 
people  who  are  discarding  the  technical  and 
elaborate  methods  of  their  predecessors  and  are 
addressing  themselves  directly  to  the  general 
public.  Many  of  the  members  of  this  new 
school  are  men  of  wide  and  minute  learning, 
authorities  of  the  first  rank  in  their  own  depart- 
ment ;  they  are  permeated  by  the  spirit  of 
modern  democracy,  and  they  realise  that  the 
best  results  of  scientific  inquiry  ought  not  to 
be  confined  to  academic  circles,  but  should  be 
made  accessible  to  the  great  body  of  the  people. 
This  can  only  be  accomplished  by  getting  rid 
of  technicalities  and  speaking  in  a  language 
which  can  be  understood  by  all. 

One  of  the  most  striking  examples  of  this 
kind  of  work  is  Professor  Harnack's  lectures 
on  the  essential  characteristics  of  the  Christian 
religion,  which  have  been  translated  into 
English  with  the  title,  "What  is  Christianity?" 
In    these    lectures    Dr.    Harnack    was    merely 


viii  What  is   Religion  ? 

popularising  the  results  of  his  inquiries  into 
the  origin  and  growth  of  the  Christian  faith. 
He  had  already  put  his  ideas  before  the  world 
in  learned  and  elaborate  works  on  the  "  History 
of  Christian  Doctrine "  and  the  "  History  of 
Ancient  Christian  Literature."  But  as  long  as 
his  opinions  were  shut  up  in  these  bulky  volumes 
they  were  only  accessible  to  a  few.  It  was 
when  he  stripped  off  his  scholar's  armour  and 
appealed  to  the  public  in  the  ordinary  language 
of  the  world  that  his  conception  of  Christianity 
gained  an  entrance  and  acquired  an  influence  in 
every  religious  community. 

Dr.  Bousset  has  folloTved  in  Professor  Har- 
nack's  steps.  Professor  Harnack  attempted  in 
his  famous  lectures  to  answer  the  question, 
What  is  Christianity  ?  Professor  Bousset,  in  the 
volume  which  is  now  placed  before  the  English 
reader,  attempts  to  answer  the  still  more  funda- 
mental question,  What  is  Religion  ?  Christianity 
is  only  one  of  the  many  forms  which  religion 
has  assumed,  just  as  European  culture  is  only 
one  of  the  many  forms  which  civilisation  has 
assumed  in  the  long  history  of  the  human  race. 
It  is,  no  doubt,  true  that  the  essential  nature  of 
religion,  as  well  as  the  deepest  characteristics 
of  civilisation,  is  best  exhibited  in  its  highest 
forms  ;  and  from  this  point  of  view  an  examina- 
tion   into    the    true    nature    of    Christianity   is 


Preface  ix 

incidentally  an  inquiry  of  the  first  importance 
into  the  nature  of  religion  itself.  But  a  recogni- 
tion of  the  supreme  value  of  Christianity  must 
not  blind  us  to  the  fact  that  all  forms  of  religion 
contribute  something  to  our  knowledge  of  the 
nature  of  the  religious  consciousness,  and  that 
we  cannot  know  what  religion  is  in  all  its 
manifestations  by  studying  the  Christian  religion 
alone. 

The  Christian  religion  is  religion  at  its  highest 
point  of  development.  Religion  passed  through 
many  stages  before  it  culminated  in  the 
Christian  faith.  In  order  to  understand  it  in 
all  its  aspects  we  must  look  at  it  in  its  infancy 
and  youth  as  well  as  in  its  maturity.  We  must 
look  at  it  as  it  shows  itself  in  the  dim  beginnings 
of  humanity ;  w^e  must  look  at  it  as  we  see  it 
now  among  the  uncivilised  races  of  mankind ; 
Tve  must  note  the  character  which  it  assumed 
among  the  great  nations  of  the  past;  Tve  must 
mark  the  features  which  it  exhibits  among 
civilisations  different  from  our  own.  It  is  only 
when  we  reach  the  end  of  a  great  historic 
survey  such  as  this  that  we  are  in  a  position 
to  attempt  to  answer  the  question  as  to  what 
religion  really  is.  It  is  the  history  of  a  nation 
which  gives  us  the  deepest  insight  into  its 
character,  and  it  is  the  history  of  religion  in 
all  ages  and  among   all  peoples  which  enables 


What  is  Religion  r 


? 


US  to  compreliend  the  essential  basis  on  which 
religion  stands. 

One  of  the  great  attractions  of  Professor 
Bousset's  book  is  that  it  is  written  on  historical 
lines,  and  that  his  conclusions  are  based  on  the 
great  outstanding  facts  of  religious  history.  It 
is  only  within  a  comparatively  recent  period 
that  a  book  of  this  kind  could  have  been 
written.  As  long  as  the  belief  prevailed  that 
the  Christian  faith  was  the  only  true  religion, 
and  that  all  other  types  of  religion  were  base 
and  degrading  superstitions,  full  of  falsehood 
from  beginning  to  end,  it  was  impossible  to 
have  a  history  of  the  religious  ideas  of  the 
human  race.  This  used  to  be  the  belief  of 
Christendom,  and  it  is  only  in  recent  years 
that  it  has  been  superseded  by  a  higher  con- 
ception of  the  nature  of  the  relations  between 
the  human  and  the  Divine.  According  to  this 
new  and  higher  conception  all  forms  of  religion 
contain  phases  of  God's  revelation  of  Himself 
to  man.  The  Christian  jDhase  is  admitted  to 
be  the  highest ;  but  the  pre-Christian  and  the 
non-Christian  religions  are  also,  in  a  humbler 
sense,  revelations  of  the  Divine,  and  the  grooving 
religious  life  of  humanity  manifests  itself  in 
them  as  well  as  in  Christianity  itself. 

With  the  spread  of  this  view  the  religions 
of  antiquity  and  the  non-Christian  religions  of 


Preface  xi 

contemporary  peoples,  both  civilised  and  un- 
civilised, acquired  a  new  meaning,  and  began 
to  be  studied  with  a  fresh  and  more  reverent 
interest.  As  a  result  of  these  studies  we  are 
now  in  possession  of  a  vast  mass  of  material 
dealing  with  the  history  and  characteristics  of 
religious  life  among  ancient  and  contemporary 
peoples,  and  we  are  able  to  trace  the  develop- 
ment of  religious  ideas  from  their  lowest  to 
their  highest  stages  in  the  life  of  man. 

Very  few  living  writers  are  so  well  equipped 
for  describing  the  evolution  and  nature  of  the 
religious  sentiment  as  Professor  Bousset.  He 
is  the  son  of  a  German  pastor,  and  was  born 
at  Liibeck,  in  1865.  After  completing  his  pre- 
liminary studies  at  the  gymnasium  of  his  native 
place,  he  became  in  succession  a  student  at  the 
universities  of  Erlangen,  Leipzig,  and  Gottingen. 
Each  of  these  places  of  learning  marked  a 
stage  in  his  mental  development.  Beginning 
his  university  career  under  the  dominance  of 
traditional  religious  conceptions,  his  mind 
gradually  became  more  liberal  in  tendency. 
At  Gottingen  he  was  a  pupil  of  one  of  the 
most  influential  German  theologians  since 
Schleiermacher,  the  late  Albrecht  Ritschl,  and 
although  he  belongs  to  a  group  of  young 
thinkers  who  have  more  and  more  liberated 
themselves     from     many     of     the     distinctive 


xii  What  is   Religion  ? 

positions  taken  up  by  Ritschl,  the  spirit  of  his 
master  is  more  or  less  visible  in  all  Professor 
Bousset's  literary  work. 

One  of  Dr.  Bousset's  first  works  was  a  volume 
entitled  "  The  Preaching  of  Jesus  in  Opposition 
to  Judaism."     In  this  work  he  showed  that  the 
teaching   of   Jesus  was   not   a   continuation   of 
contemporary  Rabbinic  teaching  with  its  centre 
resting  on  the  apocalyptic   hopes   of   Judaism  ; 
the  preaching  of  Jesus  was  the  immediate  pro- 
duct of  His  own  original  creative  personality : 
its  points  of  contact  with  Judaism  were  external 
and   not   essential,   and   it   is    best    understood 
by     contrasting,     rather     than     comparing,     it 
with    contemporary  Rabbinic  views.     Professor 
Bousset's    next    important   undertaking   was   a 
Commentary  on   the   AjDocalypse   of   John.     In 
this  Commentary  he  adopted  what  is  called  in 
Germany  the  religious  historical  method.     The 
object  of  this  method  is  to  compare  the  religious 
ideas  of  one  people  with  another,  and  to  trace, 
if  possible,  the  historical  or  psychological  con- 
nection which  exists  among  religious  conceptions 
as  a  whole.     A  few  years  ago  Professor  Bousset 
published  what   is   so   far   his   most   important 
work,  "  The  Religion  of  the  Jews  in  New  Testa- 
ment Times."     In   this  volume   Dr.  Bousset   at 
once  established  his  reputation  as  a  scholar  of 
wide   and    varied   learning,   with    a    clear    and 


Preface  xiii 

comprehensive  grasp  of  the  problem  with  which 
he  had  undertaken  to  deal.  He  had  been  pre- 
ceded in  this  task  by  writers  of  conspicuous 
ability  like  Professor  Schiirer ;  but,  notwith- 
standing this,  Dr.  Bousset's  book  on  Judaism 
marks  a  distinct  step  forward  in  our  knowledge 
of  New  Testament  times.  It  is  clear  from 
Dr.  Bousset's  investigations  that  Judaism  at 
this  period  had  opened  its  arms  to  ideas  from 
foreign  sources,  and  that  it  bears  distinct  traces 
of  Persian  influence. 

Dr.  Bousset's  more  recent  book  consists  of 
lectures  on  the  nature  of  religion  which  are  now 
placed  before  the  English  reader.  These  lectures 
are  written  on  the  same  lines  as  Dr.  Bousset's 
"Jesus,"  which  was  translated  into  English  a 
year  or  two  ago.  They  are  popular  in  form, 
but  are  the  result  of  deep  and  prolonged  study 
of  the  subject,  and  may  safely  be  accepted  as 
one  of  the  best  extant  introductions  to  the  study 
of  religious  phenomena.  Readers  of  this  volume 
who  still  adhere  to  the  traditional  view  of 
Christianity  may  be  startled  and  offended  at 
the  freedom  with  which  Dr.  Bousset  criticises 
certain  conspicuous  elements  in  ecclesiastical 
dogma.  But  they  must  remember  that  the 
lectures  in  this  volume  were  originally  addressed 
to  an  audience  which  was  not  prepared  to 
accept  the  ordinary  conservative  conception  of 


xiv  What   is   Religion  ? 

the  Christian  faith,  and  they  must  also  consider 
the  point  of  view  from  which  Professor  Bousset 
approaches  the  fundamental  facts  of  the 
Christian  faith.  According  to  Dr.  Bousset  all 
the  later  developments  of  Christian  dogma 
must  be  tested  by  the  teaching  of  Jesus  Him- 
seK.  If  these  later  developments  are  not  con- 
tained in  the  primitive  teaching  of  the  Founder 
of  Christianity,  or  are  contrary  to  His  teaching, 
they  must  not  be  regarded  as  essential  elements 
of  the  Christian  faith.  The  teaching  of  the 
Founder  is  the  supreme  test  of  what  is  essen- 
tially Christian,  and  all  later  developments  must 
be  judged  by  this  test.  This  is  a  point  of  view 
which  is  gaining  many  adherents  all  over  the 
world,  and  it  is  desirable  to  have  it  placed 
before  us  by  such  an  able  exponent  as  Dr. 
Bousset. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

PREFACE  .  .  .  .  .  .         V 


CHAPTER    I 
INTRODUCTION  .  .  .  .  .1 

CHAPTER    II 
THE   RELIGION   OF   SAVAGES — TRIBAL   RELIGION  .      29 

CHAPTER   III 
NATIONAL   RELIGIONS     .  .  .  .  .69 

CHAPTER   IV 
THE  PROPHETS  AND  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE   PROPHETS    109 

CHAPTER  V 

THE     RELIGIONS     OF     THE     LAW — JUDAISM,     ZOROAS- 

TRIANISM,   ISLAMISM  ....    133 

XV 


xvi  What  is  Religion  ? 

CHAPTER   VI 

PAGE 

THE    RELIGIONS    OF    REDEMPTION  I    BUDDHA,    PLATO       .    175 


CHAPTER    VII 
THE    NATURE    OF    CHRISTIANITY  .  .  .    213 

CHAPTER  VIII 
THE    FUTURE    OF   CHRISTIANITY  .  .  .    260 


INDEX    .......    301 


CHAPTER  I 


INTRODUCTION 


THESE  lectures  are  to  deal  with  a  subject  of 
the  greatest  importance,  the  knowledge 
of  the  phenomenon  which  is  known  by  that 
foreign  word  "  religion,"  and  in  dealing  with  this 
we  are  brought  face  to  face  with  the  most 
momentous,  the  most  powerful  factor  that 
affects  the  mental  life  of  mankind. 

Wherever  we  look  we  find  that  practically  no 
tribe  or  community  of  human  beings  is  without 
some  kind  of  a  religion,  although  those  scholars 
may  possibly  be  right  in  thinking  they  have 
discovered  here  and  there,  in  some  corner  of  the 
world,  small  tribes  who  are  entirely  without  it. 
It  does  not,  of  necessity,  follow  that  this  con- 
clusion is  merely  due  to  false  and  insufficient 
investigation.  It  is  quite  true  that  traces  of  a 
religion  are  but  rarely  met  with  in  the  excava- 
tions and  discoveries  belonging  to  the  earlier 
Stone   Age   and    are  only  found    to    any   large 

2  1 


What  is   Religion 


? 


extent  in  the  later  period.  Yet  these  excava- 
tions throw  light  on  a  period  removed  from  us 
by  many  thousand  years,  a  period,  however,  in 
which  man  already  possessed  a  religion.  And 
although,  naturally,  there  must  be  some  point 
of  time  when  religion  had  its  beginning,  it  is 
still  incontestable  that  wherever  human  life 
advanced  a  stage  religion  was  evolved. 

Religion  has  conducted  man  to  his  highest 
point  of  civilisation ;  and  this  is  so  in  our  own 
time.  To-day,  it  is  true,  we  are  confronted 
by  the  fact  that,  as  has  usually  happened  in 
periods  of  excessive  culture,  numerous  sections 
of  the  people  are  separated  from  religion, 
but  we  are  justified  in  considering  this  as 
merely  a  passing  phase.  Modern  society  and 
modern  civilisation  in  both  Europe  and  America 
are  still  connected  in  a  thousand  ways  with 
religion.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  at 
the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century  the 
Churches  are  much  more  powerful  and  stable 
than  they  were  a  hundred  or  a  hundred  and 
fifty  years  ago,  and  that  the  religious  bodies  of 
North  America  which  are  in  no  wise  supported 
by  the  State  display  great  vitality.  And  again, 
this  fact  must  not  be  overlooked,  that  among 
the  most  highly  cultured  people,  among  the 
leaders  of  thought,  even  when  they  are  not  in 
harmony  with  the  established  religion,  there  is 


Introduction  3 

an  interest  in  religious  matters  and  a  spirit  of 
inquiry  concerning  them.  It  is  only,  indeed,  in 
times  of  the  greatest  and  most  widespread  intel- 
lectual decadence  that  religion  reaches  its  lowest 
ebb,  and  there  never  has  been,  and  never  will 
be,  a  civilisation  which  is  progressive  and  vital 
unaccompanied  by  religion.  "  Men,"  says  Goethe, 
"  are  only  creative  in  Poetry  and  Art  as  long  as 
they  are  religious  ;  without  religion  they  are 
merely  imitative,  lacking  in  originality." 

Religion  has  exercised  the  most  profound 
influence  on  human  life ;  it  may  truly  be  said 
that  all  progress  in  human  life  has  been  evolved 
in  close  connection  with  religion,  and  indeed 
it  almost  seems  as  if  religion  'were  the  source 
of  this  progress.  The  use  of  fire,  by  which 
mankind  appears  to  have  been  originally  dis- 
tinguished from  the  animal  world,  owes  its 
origin,  as  far  as  we  know,  to  the  religious 
worship  of  that  wondrous  element.  Innumer- 
able traces  bear  witness  to  the  fact  that  the 
kindling,  the  looking  after,  and  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  fire  were  religious  acts,  and  we 
are  justified  in  believing  that  even  before  man 
understood  how  to  use  or  produce  fire  he  wor- 
shipped it.  Again,  there  is  evidence  in  the 
customs  of  savage  nations  that  the  breeding  of 
cattle,  the  taming  of  them,  and  the  use  of 
domestic   animals   are    closely    connected    with 


what  is  Religion 


? 


the  religious  worship  of  these  creatures.  The 
earliest  artistic  manifestations  of  mankind,  if 
not  exclusively  religious,  are  yet  intimately 
related  to  religion.  The  ornaments  with  which 
the  savage  decorates  his  body,  the  marks  he 
imprints  upon  it,  the  pictures  he  paints  upon 
it,  possess  an  important  religious  significance, 
the  significance  of  the  magic  talisman  and 
the  amulet.  The  most  ancient  dances  are 
religious  dances — the  dance  of  joy  at  the  feast, 
the  circular  dance  when  a  sacrifice  Tvas  offered. 
Israel  danced  round  the  golden  calf.  King  David 
before  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant.  Side  by  side 
with  the  religious  dance  was  religious  music. 
The  early  prophets  of  Israel  marched  to  the 
sound  of  harp,  drum,  flute,  and  zither 
(1  Sam.  X.  5). 

It  is  a  debatable  point  whether  the  various 
pictorial  representations  on  stone,  horn,  and 
ivory,  in  high  or  low  relief,  which  date  from 
the  very  earliest  period  of  human  history — 
the  early  Stone  Age — are  due  to  a  religious 
motive  or  to  an  instinct  for  imitation  and 
amusement,  or  to  a  purely  aesthetic  impulse. 
What  is  certain,  however,  is  this,  that  among 
all  civilised  peoples  the  plastic  art  has  de- 
veloped in  close  connection  with  the  repre- 
sentation of  the  Divinity,  just  as  architecture 
owes    its    progress    to    the   building    of   tombs, 


Introduction  5 

pyramids,  obelisks,  terraces,  and  temples  of  the 
gods. 

The  idea  of  public,  inviolable  right  rests  on  a 
religious  basis,  on  the  belief  that  the  anger  of 
the  Godhead  demands  from  the  whole  com- 
munity of  worshippers  expiation  for  the  wrong 
done,  and  that  this  anger  lasts  till  atonement  is 
rendered.  The  rudiments  of  human  knowledge 
originated  in  connection  with  religion.  The 
ancient  wise  men  of  Babylon  held  in  the  very 
highest  reverence  the  starry  powers  which  ruled 
in  the  heavens,  for  according  to  their  belief 
these  governed  the  destinies  of  men.  And  from 
this  belief  arose  the  foundations  of  human  know- 
ledge :  the  careful  observation  of  the  heavenly 
bodies,  accurate  chronology,  knowledge  of 
measurements,  the  first  attempt  at  mathe- 
matics. Lastly,  the  connection  between  morals 
and  religion  is  so  obvious  and  so  close  that  it  is 
only  necessary  to  refer  to  it. 

In  course  of  time  Religion  released  from  her 
bonds  the  various  provinces  of  mental  activity 
which  hitherto  had  been  under  her  domination. 
This  marked  a  great  advance  in  the  history 
of  mankind,  by  which  Religion  also  benefited. 
She  was  deprived  of  nothing.  What  she  lost 
in  breadth  she  gained  in  depth  and  concen- 
trated energy.  In  spite  of  separation  from  other 
branches   of  human  activity,  religion   has  ever 


6  What  is  Religion  ? 

remained  the  central  interest  of  this  activity, 
and  wherever  the  surging  roar  of  life  has 
been  loudest,  and  wherever  human  life  has 
been  most  profoundly  moved  in  struggle  and 
conflict,  religion  has  been  the  cause. 

The  object  of  this  little  book  is  to  understand 
the  meaning  of  this  phenomenon  which  we  call 
religion.  What  a  many-sided.  Protean  idea 
is  presented  to  us,  what  a  confusing  jangle  of 
sounds  !  Here  we  encounter  joyous  confidence, 
sure  of  heaven  ;  there  frightful,  soul-destroying 
agony;  egoism  of  the  rudest  type,  and  a  joy 
in  sacrifice  which,  in  the  form  of  the  sacrifice 
of  men,  children,  and  sexual  honour,  shows 
itself  under  its  most  terrible  aspect.  The 
tenderest  lyrical  tones  of  entrancing  sweetness 
are  to  be  met  with  as  well  as  the  barbaric,  awful 
cruelty  of  the  religious  war,  the  auto-da-fe  and 
the  Inquisition ;  the  renunciation  of  the  ascetic, 
of  the  solitary  penitent,  of  the  monk,  side  by 
side  with  the  triumphant  note  of  the  priest 
and  the  prince  of  the  Church  who  subdues  his 
people  and  the  world.  It  is  a  world  in  which 
we  think  we  hear  the  angels  singing,  and  yet 
close  by  distorted,  demoniacal  spirits  and  all 
kinds  of  monstrosities  pursue  their  way.  Now 
we  are  in  the  presence  of  sublime  rest,  tran- 
quillity, simplicity,  now  of  a  witches'  cauldron 
of  storm-tossed  passion. 


Introduction  7 

How  can  we  find  our  way  through  this  mass 
of  phenomena?  Many  people  show  us  an 
apparently  simple  way :  they  tell  us  the 
question  concerning  the  nature  of  religion  is 
merely  the  question  of  the  nature  of  Chris- 
tianity. Christianity  alone  (they  say)  is  the 
true  religion ;  all  others  are  false,  and  the 
further  men  progressed  the  more  corrupt 
did  the  other  religions  of  man  become,  for 
humanity  had  been  corrupt  since  the  fall  of 
Adam.  Or  they  tell  us  the  religion  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments  is  revealed  religion ; 
all  others  are  natural  religions,  the  product  of 
man's  thought  or  imagination,  and  without 
any  guarantee  of  their  truth  and  permanence. 

Against  this  widespread  opinion  the  follow- 
ing points  are  offered  for  consideration  : 

1.  The  view  here  asserted  that  God  allows 
the  nations  that  have  not  accepted  the  revela- 
tion of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  to  go  their 
own  way,  sinking  deeper  and  deeper  into  dark- 
ness and  decay,  is,  if  we  consider  the  whole 
bearings  of  it,  a  narrow-minded  and  melancholy 
view  of  the  history  of  humanity.  It  is,  in  truth, 
an  irreligious  and  Godless  attitude.  Apart  from 
its  falsity,  it  is  a  dangerous  apologetic  for 
Christian  theologians  to  attempt  with  great  J 
sagacity — apparently  in  order  to  maintain  the 
honour    of    the     Christian    religion — to    prove 


9 


8  What  is  Religion  ? 

that  the  non-Christian  religions  are  illusions, 
products  of  the  imagination  and  the  intense 
desire  of  mankind.  For  this  apologetic  entirely 
forgets  that  the  very  arts  which  it  employs 
can  be  used  against  itself,  and  the  very  same 
arguments  may  be  used  to  prove  that  the 
Christian  religion  is  an  illusion. 

2.  The  whole  trend  of  human  history  is 
opposed  to  this  view.  Far  indeed  from  show- 
ing us  an  evolution  from  a  higher  to  a  lower 
civilisation,  or  the  arbitrary  play  of  forces, 
history  (in  spite  of  many  periods  of  stagnation 
and  retrogression)  shows  us  very  clearly  great 
and  stable  progress,  a  slowly  developed  but 
firm  aspiration  after  higher  ideas  and  a  more 
intense  life  in  which  religion  participates.  The 
theologian  who  traces  the  history  of  religion 
from  a  higher  to  a  lower  plane  does  not  see 
how  he  is  entirely  opposed  to  our  knowledge 
of  the  intellectual  life  of  mankind. 

3.  The  whole  history  of  religion  and  of  free 
inquiry  concerning  religion  is  opposed  to  this 
theory.  This  shows  us  the  history  of  the  Old 
and  the  New  Testament  so  closely  connected  with 
the  religious  history  of  the  surrounding  peoples 
and  civilisations  that  the  distinction  between 
revealed  and  natural  religion  is  impossible. 
The  history  of  the  Old  Testament  religion  shows 
us  a  progress  from  a  lower  to  a  higher  stage, 


Introduction  9 

a  slow  growth  from  imperfection  to  perfection. 
Ecclesiastical  history  also  reveals  in  the  develop- 
ment of  Christianity  an  ever  purer  conception — 
gradual,  it  is  true — of  the  religion  of  the  spirit 
and  of  truth  which  is  displayed  in  the  Gospels. 
It  is  no  question  of,  This  religion  is  true,  that  is 
false ;  everywhere  we  perceive  growth,  evolu- 
tion, imperfection  striving  towards  perfection. 

Thus  for  the  reasons  just  stated  we  proceed 
on  our  inquiries  from  a  different  standpoint, 
which  will  be  justified  in  the  course  of  further 
explanation.  The  whole  history  of  the  religious  ] 
life  of  mankind  stands  to  us  as  the  great  handi- 
work of  God,  a  ceaseless  aspiration  and  constant!, 
intercourse  of  God  with  man,  of  man  with  his  ) 
Maker,  in  accordance  with  the  sta^e  to  which 
he  has  attained.  The  religion  of  the  Old  and 
the  New  Testaments,  however,  represents,  as  we 
shall  see,  the  purest  form  of  religion,  and  the 
Gospel,  to  say  the  least,  the  highest  and  most 
perfect  form  to  which  it  has  reached.  But  in 
spite  of  this,  Christianity  is  not  the  one  religion, 
the  only  religion,  but  simply  the  most  complete 
species  of  the  genus. 

Hence,  in  this  book,  where  we  are  not  so 
much  concerned  with  the  practical  application 
of  religion  as  with  a  clearly  defined  knowledge 
of  it,  the  question  concerning  the  nature  of 
religion    is    of    the    first    importance,    that    of 


lo  What   is   Religion  ? 

Christianity  being  secondary.  For  from  a 
comparative  study  of  the  genus  we  learn  to 
understand  thoroughly  and  completely  the 
most  perfect  of  its  species,  just  as  comparative 
anatomy  reveals  to  us  very  clearly  the  highly 
developed  organism  of  man.  The  answer  to  the 
inquiry  concerning  the  nature  of  Christianity 
is  not,  however,  easily  given.  If  we  want  to 
separate,  with  clear  perception,  the  essential 
from  the  non-essential,  and  discover  with 
certainty,  in  the  changing  forms  of  temporary 
expressions,  the  eternal,  everlasting  basis,  Ave 
cannot  do  better  than  aiDply  ourselves  to  the 
comparative  study  of  religions. 

In  pursuing  this  inquiry  concerning  religion 
we  turn  with  complete  confidence  to  the  whole 
wonderful  history  of  religion.  In  studying  this 
history  we  must  group  together  phenomena, 
and  arrange  them  in  their  right  order  ;  we  must 
seize  the  essential  and  the  permanent  in  the 
phenomena  as  they  pass  before  our  eyes,  recog- 
nise the  laws  of  evolution,  and  connect  the  past 
with  the  present  and  the  future. 

But  before  dealing  with  the  mass  of  pheno- 
mena, it  is  to  be  recommended  on  pedagogical 
grounds  that  some  propositions  of  a  general 
kind  should  be  made  touching  the  nature  of 
religion.  Not  that  these  propositions  might  not 
be   obtained   from   history  itself,  or  that   they 


VV2^- 


Introduction  1 1 


would  not  be  just  as  well  obtained  in  the  course 
of  an  historical  survey ;  but  just  as  before  going 
into  a  labyrinthine  building  it  is  as  well  to  look 
at  the  plan,  so  these  general  remarks  may  be 
found  useful.  They  will  serve  as  the  basis ; 
observations  obtained,  as  it  were,  from  a  bird's- 
eye  view,  which  will  receive  shape,  energy,  and 
illumination  from  later  statements. 

First  of  all,  it  must  be  clearly  noted  that 
religion  is  a  fundamental  element  in  the  mental 
life  of  mankind,  of  a  primary  and  not  a  deri- 
vative character.  At  any  rate,  the  attempts 
hitherto  made  to  reduce  religion  to  a  simple 
elementary  function  have  failed.  Attempts 
have  been  made  to  derive  religion  from  the 
Kausalitdtsdrang,  the  instinct  for  knowledge ; 
to  consider  it  "  the  instinctive  thought,"  the 
elementary  stage  of  true  philosophic  thought ; 
to  degrade  it  to  an  aesthetic  illusion  or  to  accept 
its  propositions  as  postulates  for  the  basis  of 
ethics.  Opposed  to  this  is  the  view  that  in 
religion  we  are  dealing  with  a  powerful  primary 
manifestation  of  human  personality,  derived 
from  nothing,  not  to  be  reduced  to  one  of  the 
categories  belonging  to  man's  mental  life,  such 
as  thinking,  feeling,  willing,  but  a  phenomenon 
standing  by  itself. 

It  is  indeed  a  correct  observation,  which  can 
be   substantiated,    that   religion  is    a  *'  striving 


1 2  What  is  Religion  ? 

after  life."  History  reveals  to  us  on  all  sides 
this  striving  after  life ;  on  all  sides  we  see 
religion  concerned  with  blessings.  These  bless- 
ings are  of  different  kinds  :  earthly  blessings, 
appertaining  to  individual  life,  such  as  rain, 
fertility,  sunshine,  good  hunting,  health,  the 
cure  of  sickness.  Then,  again,  there  are  the 
blessings  connected  with  the  life  of  the  com- 
munity :  dominion,  victory  in  war,  peace,  pro- 
tection of  trade  and  industry,  right,  freedom, 
universal  prosperity ;  or  the  nobler  blessings 
of  a  future  life  :  a  happy  fate  after  death,  life 
with  the  gods  or  with  one  God,  reconciliation, 
forgiveness  of  sin  and  guilt,  inward  peace,  moral 
justice.  Even  the  mystic — who  surrenders  his 
own  life,  and  absorbs  himself  in  the  Godhead ; 
or  the  Buddhist  monk,  animated  by  a  wish  to 
free  himself  from  life  and  attain  to  absolute 
rest — regards  the  perfect  renunciation  of  his 
being  as  a  boon  in  comparison  with  the  painful 
torment  of  this  worldly  existence.  Religion  is 
everywhere  seen  to  be  a  striving  after  life,  after 
possessions. 

The  subject  of  religion  may  be  clearly  and 
accurately  distinguished  from  the  other  great 
subjects  with  which  man's  mental  life  is  con- 
cerned. In  our  moral  dealings  the  motive  of 
which  we  are  conscious  is  not,  in  the  first 
instance,  a  striving  after  possessions,  though  it 


Introduction  1 3 

is  certain  that  our  ultimate  object  is  to  obtain 
things  of  priceless  worth.  But  the  moral  law 
faces  man  with  stern  demands,  ignoring  all  his 
desires  ;  it  confronts  him  with  "  Thou  shalt "  and 
"  Thou  shalt  not,"  and  oppresses  his  life  as  with 
a  strange  burden.  The  aspiration  after  Truth — 
it  is  universally  admitted — is  only  of  value  when 
it  is  completely  disinterested.  Science  and  art 
must  be  entirely  disinterested  ;  the  investigator 
must  regard  the  highest  interests  of  human  life 
as  secondary  to  the  interest  of  Truth.  The  love 
of  the  Beautiful  is  of  a  more  intense  and  per- 
sonal nature,  but,  as  a  clever  art  critic  has 
remarked,  it  is,  and  must  ever  be,  an  abstract 
love.  It  is  a  love  springing  from  intense  con- 
templation, in  which  the  object  remains  a 
thing  quite  apart  from  the  person  interested 
in  it.  The  desire  to  have  this  beauty,  to 
wish  to  gain  possession  of  it,  is  no  longer 
aesthetic,  and  mars  the  pure,  intuitive  vision 
of  beauty. 

Now,  religion  stands  in  complete  contrast  to 
all  this,  for  everything  connected  with  it  is  of 
the  keenest,  deepest  personal  interest.  Our  will 
power  and  our  feelings  are  worked  up  to  the 
highest  point  of  tension  ;  we  desire  to  have,  to 
possess,  to  be  something.  Religion  can  awaken 
in  us  the  most  intense  feeling  ;  it  unfetters  our 
mental    powers,    kindles    our    firiest    passions. 


14  What  is  Religion  ? 

There  is  a  fomenting,  a  seething,  a  wild  surging 
of  the  good  and  evil  elements  within  us. 

And  just  because  religion  is  a  striving  after 
life  it  is  brought  into  a  peculiarly  close  and  yet 
a  curiously  antagonistic  relation  to  every 
department  of  human  activity  which  is  con- 
cerned with  the  striving  after  possessions. 
This  peculiar  relation  does  not  exist  between 
religion  and  science,  art  or  morality.  Be- 
tween these  it  would  be  easy  to  establish  a 
profitable  and  mutually  beneficial  relation. 
Antagonisms  and  contradictions  exist  but  in 
appearance  ;  they  are  due  to  one  or  the  other 
overstepping  the  limits  of  its  domain,  and  they 
can  generally  be  set  right,  though  often  only 
with  time  and  difficulty. 

Much  more  profound  and  impenetrable  is  the 
problem  of  religion  and  civilisation.  Religion 
obtains  the  benefits  which  she  offers  to  mankind 
in  a  manner  different  from  that  which  human 
activity  employs  to  obtain  them.  Religion 
stands  towards  human  activity  in  a  peculiarly 
friendly,  yet  often  hostile  relation ;  she  is 
often,  nay  usually,  the  pioneer  of  new  modes 
of  activity  of  a  civilising  nature  which  were  not 
originally  due  to  civilisation,  but  were  the 
expression  and  outcome  of  man's  religious  life. 
As  we  have  already  mentioned,  the  use  of  fire 
was  most  probably  preceded  by  the  worship  of 


Introduction  1 5 

fire  ;  worship  created  its  use.  When  once  fire 
was  completely  mastered  by  man,  and  forced 
into  his  service,  then  (allowing  for  a  consider- 
able number  of  exceptions)  fire-worship  ceased. 
From  an  object  of  religious  belief  fire  became 
the  most  powerful  instrument  of  civilisation. 
We  have  another  and  a  nearer  example  which 
can  be  more  easily  understood.  The  belief  that 
the  Godhead  would  avenge  the  sin  of  the  indi- 
vidual on  the  whole  tribe,  town,  or  nation, 
causes  the  tribe,  &c.,  in  its  own  interest  to 
guard  against  every  gross  infringement  of  the 
law  on  the  part  of  any  individual ;  hence  the 
idea  of  public  rights  is  created.  The  belief 
vanishes,  but  the  idea  of  public  obligation 
becomes  a  powerful  lever  in  the  progress  of 
civilisation.  Thus  civilisation  is  always  the 
fortunate  heiress  of  religion — fortunate,  and 
yet  in  a  sense  unfortunate,  for  she  is  never 
able  to  enjoy  her  inheritance  quite  whole- 
heartedly. At  the  very  moment  when  religion 
gives  to  civilisation  a  province  of  human  life  for 
secular  use  it  shows  mankind  new  and  higher 
possessions  beyond  the  horizon  of  all  earthly 
goods.  Her  constant  cry  to  civilisation  is,  "  The 
life  which  you  offer  is  not  the  highest  of  bless- 
ings." She  imprints  on  all  the  works  of  civilisa- 
tion the  stamp  of  the  transient,  the  means 
towards  an   end.     She  places  the  real  value  of 


1 6  What  is  Religion  ? 

life   beyond  :     Sursum  corda ! — "  Lift  up    your 
hearts  ! " 

But  when  we  consider  the  relation  of  religion 
to  civilisation  we  at  once  clearly  perceive  that 
the  definition  of  religion  as  a  striving  after  life, 
after  possessions,  is  inadequate.  It  is  as  if  we 
defined  music  as  a  noise.  Progress,  it  is  true,  is 
based  on  a  striving  after  life,  after  possessions, 
but  we  need  a  further  distinguishing  charac- 
teristic of  religion ;  we  have  found  one  focus  of 
the  ellipse,  we  must  seek  another. 
I  We  ask  ourselves  in  what  way  this  strife 
\  after  life  is  accomplished  by  religion,  and  we 
reply  that  this  is  effected  in  conjunction  with 
the  higher  powers,  spirits,  demons,  heroes,  gods, 
the  Godhead — God.  For  in  all  religion  we  find  as 
a  second  determining  factor  the  belief  in  gods 
or  God.  The  solitary  exception  is  the  Buddhist 
religion,  in  which  there  is  no  thought  of  a  God, 
and  later  an  attempt  will  be  made  to  under- 
stand this  exception. 

This  second  factor  in  religion — belief  in  gods 
— cannot  be  derived  from  the  first,  although 
many  attempts  have  been  made  to  do  so. 
People  have  sought  to  show  that  this  belief  in 
gods  arises  from  the  primal  necessities  of  man's 
life,  and  have  brought  forward  evidence  to 
prove  that  the  different  types  of  gods  clearly 
correspond  to  the  different  wants  and  ideals  of 


Introduction  1 7 

humanity.  Here  we  are  dealing  already  with 
an  hypothesis  which  goes  beyond  the  spiritual 
phenomenon  we  are  considering,  and  does 
violence  to  it.  For  wherever  we  have  religious 
life  the  gods  (or  the  Godhead)  are  regarded  as 
absolute  realities,  more  real  even  than  human 
life.  So  that  if  that  hypothesis  of  the  purely 
illusionary  signij&cance  of  belief  in  gods  is 
to  be  accepted,  how  can  ^we  explain  the 
predominance  of  the  feelings  of  fear  and 
anguish  in  the  lowest  stages  of  religion?  If 
the  gods  owe  their  origin  merely  to  the 
wishes  of  men,  and  are  born  of  their  material 
needs,  how  can  we  explain  that  dominating 
element  in  religion,  since  man  as  a  creative 
being  can  do  what  instinctive  man  cannot  do  ? 

We  therefore  maintain  from  the  outset  the 
twofold  basis  of  religion — striving  after  pos- 
sessions and  belief  in  gods — without  hastily 
explaining  it  and  simplifying  it.  Rather,  we 
proceed  further  Tvith  these  questions  :  What  are 
these  higher  powers  ?  what  is  meant  by  rever- 
encing gods,  worshipping  a  God?  What  is  it 
that  impels  men  to  honour  some  of  the  powers 
which  rule  around  them,  and  not  to  honour 
others  ?     How  is  belief,  religion,  kindled  ? 

First  of  all  we  observe,  when  we  consider 
the  course  of  religious  history,  that  it  is  the 
strange,  the  marvellous,  the  incalculable  and  the 

3 


1 8  What  is  Religion  ? 

mighty  forces  that  arouse  religious  veneration. 
From  the  very  earliest  times  there  has  ever 
been  a  close  connection  between  faith  and 
wonder.  Very  early  does  man  begin  to  divide 
his  world  into  the  known  and  the  unknown. 
Even  the  lowest  type  of  savage  possesses  a 
part  of  the  known  TS'orld — the  cave  wherein 
he  dwells,  the  hunting  implements  which  he 
uses,  the  animals  he  masters  and  tames,  perhaps 
even  a  little  piece  of  ground  which  he  cultivates, 
a  hut  which  he  builds.  We  may  therefore 
venture  on  the  supposition  that  only  when  from 
the  immense  whole  man  has  divided  off  for 
himself  a  little  piece  of  land  which  he  calls  his 
Tv^orld  does  he,  filled  with  immeasurable  wonder, 
rise  to  the  idea  of  religious  veneration.  And 
it  is  here,  on  the  boundary  line  between  the 
known  and  the  unknown,  that  religion 
originates. 

The  forest  which  surrounds  the  savage  is  full 
of  spirits ;  he  is  conscious  of  a  rustling,  a 
crackling,  a  creaking,  a  whispering,  of  singing 
and  noises.  In  the  woods  the  elves  and  kobolds, 
the  fauns  and  the  dryads,  the  little  men  and 
women  of  the  woods,  disport  themselves.  The 
summits  of  the  mountains  are  an  unknown 
world ;  many  a  one  has  ascended  them  and 
never  returned.  The  avalanches  crash  down 
from  them,  the  waters  roar.     There  dwell  the 


Introduction  19 

mischievous  wood-demons,  the  stone-throwing 
centaurs,  "  Rubezahl,"  Pan  who  frightens  the 
herdsmen,  Dionysus  with  his  wild  hordes.  And 
besides  all  these  there  are  the  ghosts,  the  dead 
whose  continued  existence  is  regarded  as  a 
matter  of  course  by  the  childlike  mind  of  the 
primitive  savage.  Such  spirits  are  not  regarded 
as  especially  powerful ;  they  are  indeed  depen- 
dent on  the  care  of  the  li^'ing ;  they  are  spoken 
of  as  "poor  souls."  But  they  are  strange, 
inexplicable,  and  dwell  in  the  mysterious  un- 
kno^vn  world.  In  the  gloom  of  the  twilight, 
in  the  darkness  of  the  night,  by  the  graves  and 
the  cross-roads,  they  carry  on  their  ghostly 
existence — Hecate  and  her  savage  tribe,  the 
wild  huntsman  and  his  hounds.  What  a  pro- 
found impress  this  belief  in  spirits  and  ghosts 
has  left  even  on  the  mind  of  modern  man ! 

And  now  a  wonderful  and  remarkable  drama 
begins  :  gradually  man  extends  the  limits  of  his 
world,  and  from  this  world  which  is  now  known 
to  him,  which  he  has  explored  and  governs, 
the  spirits  and  gods  vanish.  Yet  the  unknown 
world,  the  world  of  faith  and  religion,  never 
vanishes.  The  farther  man  penetrates  the 
more  unfathomable  becomes  that  unknoTvn 
world  ;  the  more  he  learns  to  rule  the  world, 
the  more  mysterious,  wonderful,  and  immense 
appears  that  world  which  he  does  not  command, 


20  What  is  Religion  ? 

and  the  more  he  knows  about  it  the  more 
incomprehensible  he  feels  it  to  be.  For  one 
riddle  that  he  solves  ten  others  confront  him. 
And  it  is  here,  on  the  boundary-line  of  the 
known  and  the  unknown  world,  that  religion 
is  kindled. 

From  the  spirits  which  rule  on  the  earth 
man  turns  his  glance  to  the  heavenly  powers 
which  blow,  rustle,  rage,  thunder,  lighten,  rain, 
shine,  sparkle,  and  illumine,  which  bring  life, 
light  and  prosperity ;  to  the  powers  which 
dwell  beneath  the  earth  and  bring  fruitfulness 
and  harvest  to  the  fields,  which  rule  over  life 
and  death.  No  longer  does  he  seek  the  gods 
only  in  the  marvellous,  the  unexpected,  the 
strange,  the  inexplicable,  but  also  in  the  still 
more  wonderful,  mysterious  and  eternal 
ordinances  of  the  universe.  To  the  Greeks 
Moira,  Fate  {Fatum)  was  the  mightiest  power, 
to  which  even  the  gods  bowed ;  the  native  of 
India  expresses  the  idea  of  unalterable  law 
by  the  word  rta,  the  Persian  Asha.  And 
thus  the  gods  become  the  spiritual  powers 
which,  in  accordance  with  eternal,  inviolable 
laws,  guide  the  destinies  of  the  nations  in  holi- 
ness and  righteousness.  But  still  the  primitive 
idea  of  religion  always  remains  the  same,  fear 
of  the  mysterious,  superior  power  of  the  gods, 
which  the  Greek  by  his  ^eo\  xp^irroveg  ("  the  gods 


Introduction  2 1 

are  more   than   mortals ")   has   expressed  with 
absolute  clearness. 

Let  us  consider  how  this  idea  works  out. 
To  us  moderns  it  is  also  the  basis  of  all  religion. 
For  however  greatly  the  known  world  has 
widened  for  us,  still  larger  looms  the  unknown 
world.  With  all  our  great  capacity  we  remain 
throughout  our  life  chained  and  confined  to 
our  little  planet.  The  Kopernican  theory  has 
taught  us  that  this  our  planet  is  no  longer  the 
middle  point  of  the  world,  as  an  earlier  know- 
ledge believed,  but  merely  an  atom  in  the 
universe.  We  are  all  drifting  along  in  frail 
skiffs,  and  everywhere  we  are  surrounded  by 
dizzy  abysses.  Whether,  armed  with  a  telescope, 
we  gaze  at  the  infinitely  great  and  perceive 
one  starry  world  revolving  round  another,  or 
Tvith  a  microscope  we  study  the  infinitely  little  ; 
whether  we  lift  our  eyes  to  the  Milky  Way,  or 
cast  them  down  towards  the  smallest  pebbles 
of  the  great  universe,  at  the  molecules  and  the 
atoms,  we  are  for  ever  possessed  of  this  dizzy 
feeling  of  the  abysses  which  surround  our  life. 
And  amid  all  this  wondrously  great  and 
wondrously  little  there  is  a  noble,  mysterious 
striving  and  aspiration  in  life  in  all  its  forms, 
after  inviolable  and  inflexible  laws  before  which 
we  stand  amazed.  Thus,  in  my  opinion,  it  is 
just   to   us   modern  men   that   the   basis  of   all 


22  What  is  Religion  ? 

religion  is  seen  to  be  trembling  fear  and  rever- 
ence for  the  great  realities  amid  which  we  live. 
Every  one  who  is  susceptible  to  this  feeling  is, 
and  must  be,  susceptible  to  religion. 

But  just  as  when  we  said  that  religion  was 
a  striving  after  life,  after  possessions,  we 
had  not  completely  defined  it,  so  in  saying 
that  it  is  a  timid,  reverential  recognition  of 
the  superior  powers  of  spirits  and  gods,  of  the 
Godhead  or  God,  we  have  also  given  no  com- 
plete definition.  Rather  is  it  that  in  these  two 
attitudes  of  mind  we  have  found  the  true  foci, 
and  now  we  must  seek  to  define  the  circum- 
ference of  religion. 

In  bringing  these  two  attitudes  into  closer 
connection  it  may  be  said  on  the  one  hand  that 
religion  is  not  merely  an  egoistic  striving  after 
possessions,  the  attempt  of  man  to  assert  his 
individuality  in  the  world  around  him,  by  which 
means  his  subordinate  position  is  brought  closer 
to  the  Godhead.  We  see  that  religion  is,  as  well 
as  this,  something  higher,  a  simple  feeling  of 
self -surrender  to  the  Godhead.  In  all  stages 
of  religion  we  meet  with  phenomena  which 
display  this  aspect  in  absolute  simplicity.  We 
see  the  desire,  often  intensified  to  madness,  to 
sacrifice  to  the  Godhead  all  possessions,  even 
life  and  sex  honour  (e.gr.,  asceticism,  expiation, 
human  sacrifice,   prostitution  in  the   service   of 


Introduction  23 


the  gods).  We  have  the  casting  of  the  being  on 
the  Godhead  without  any  personal  demand ; 
spiritual  absorption  in  Him,  which  leads  to  the 
entire  surrender  of  the  Ego  (as  in  the  case  of 
the  mystic) ;  a  striving  after  the  very  life  of 
the  Godhead,  a  longing  after  God  which  is 
expressed  in  its  highest  form  in  the  saying, 
"  If  I  have  but  Thee  I  ask  for  neither  heaven 
nor  earth." 

On  the  other  hand,  we  may  say  that  religion, 
if  it  is  to  remain  healthy,  can  never  be  com- 
pletely severed  from  the  egoistic  feeling  ;  it 
cannot  be  mere  reverence  of  the  Godhead  apart 
from  all  desires,  nor  simply  the  feeling  of 
dependence.  Healthy  religion  must  always  con- 
tain an  element  of  personal  interest ;  it  must 
be  personal  relationship,  a  desire  to  render  but 
likewise  to  receive.  Religion  is  personal  relation  / 
with  the  Godhead.  Let  us  now  examine  a  little 
more  closely  this  statement  that  we  have  made, 
and  the  vivid  contradictions  to  it  which  the  life 
of  religion  unfolds. 

Now,  in  every  religion  there  are  two  aspects 
which  must  be  considered  together.  On  the 
one  hand  there  are  the  superior  powers  which 
man  worships,  in  their  nature  often  hateful  and 
mysterious  ;  he  must  flee  from  them,  hide  from 
them  in  horror,  anguish,  overwhelming  fear 
and    awe.      And    yet,   on   the   other    hand,   he 


24  What  is   Religion  ? 

cannot  get  free  from  them ;  he  does  not,  indeed, 
venture  to  do  so,  he  clings  to  them,  he  feels 
himself  connected  with  them,  he  belongs  to 
them  and  they  to  him.  He  raises  his  hands 
inploringly  towards  them,  he  gives  so  that  he 
may  receive — he  sacrifices  ;  he  believes  that  the 
gods  hear  him  and  take  an  interest  in  him  and 
his  doings.  Only  where  these  two  beliefs  are 
found  together  do  we  get  true  religion.  In  the 
lowest  stages  of  rqligious  life  as  a  rule  man 
only  worships  the  inferior  beings,  the  tiny  spirits 
of  nature,  the  souls  of  the  dead,  &c.  He  does 
indeed  know  of  the  superior  powers  in  the 
heavens  which  storm,  and  rage,  and  shine,  and 
illuminate,  but  this  is  mere  religious  feeling  and 
is  not  religion.  For  he  does  not  yet  venture  to 
believe  that  these  powers  are  exercised  on  his 
behalf.  Only  very  gradually  have  men  come 
to  this  thought,  and  have  turned  their  attention 
to  the  sun,  the  moon,  the  stars,  which  illumine, 
and  have  said  to  the  God  of  heaven  who  storms 
and  thunders,  "Thou  art  our  God  and  our 
Father."  Such  a  belief,  indeed,  lies  at  the 
root  of  all  religion,  a  belief  which  ever  increases 
until  the  Christ  comes  and  says  to  the  almighty 
God,  "Thou  art  My  Father."  All  religion  is— 
and  the  higher  we  rise  the  more  true  this  is — a 
casting  of  the  self  into  the  abyss,  a  wondrous 
miracle  of  human  confidence. 


Introduction  2  5 

In  all  forms  of  religious  life  there  are  two 
dominating  motive  powers,  and  the  old  question 
of  whether  fear  and  terror  or  love  and  con- 
fidence should  prevail  in  religion  admits  of 
no  simple  solution.  Both  impetuses,  centri- 
petal and  centrifugal,  are  a  driving  force  in 
all  religion  that  is  living,  and  act  in  such  a 
manner  that  the  soul  of  man  reaches  within 
measurable  distance  of  the  Godhead.  Where 
there  is  no  trembling,  timid  fear  of  God,  there 
is  no  true  religion.  For  man  is  not  permitted 
to  measure  himself  with  God,  to  place  himself 
side  by  side  with  Him.  It  is  presumption — 
the  Greeks  called  it  vPptg — the  greatest  of  all 
spiritual  sins,  if  he  ventures  to  do  this.  Man 
must  be  conscious  of  the  distance  between  him- 
self and  God.  This  is  the  first  law  in  religion, 
"  for  with  the  gods  must  no  man  presume  to 
stand  on  an  equality."  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
fear  and  terror  alone  do  not  constitute  religion ; 
this  feeling  must  not  entirely  predominate  if 
there  is  to  be  religion.  Man  must  also  feel 
drawn  towards  the  Godhead,  and  the  more 
spiritual  religion  becomes  the  stronger  is  the 
impulse  of  confidence  and  love.  But  even  in 
the  most  elevated  of  religions  the  motive  power 
of  fear  does  not  vanish  entirely.  It  is  there 
in  the  background,  from  which  belief  and  con- 
fidence emerge.     Even  in  the  prayer  of  Jesus, 


26  what  Is  Religion  ? 

"I  thank  thee,  O  Father,  Lord  of  heaven  and 
earth,  that  Thou  didst  hide  these  things  from  the 
wise  and  understanding,  and  didst  reveal  them 
unto  babes,"  both  these  motives  find  a  place. 
With  impregnable  certainty  Luther  expressed 
this  idea  when  he  said,  "  We  must  fear  God  in 
all  things,  and  we  must  love  Him  and  trust 
Him."  Belief  is  a  light  in  darkness,  an  attraction 
and  a  repulsion,  trembling  fear  and  exultant 
joy.     This  is  a  great  paradox,  but  so  it  is. 

When  we  consider  religion  from  this  stand- 
point we  shall  then  understand  why  in  all  living 
religions,  first  vaguely  and  then  gradually  clearly, 
and  as  the  centre,  there  is  the  idea  of  redemp- 
tion, the  belief  in  a  higher  life.  All  religion,  as 
we  have  said,  rests  on  the  striking  contrasts 
between  the  known  and  the  unknown  world. 
Man  desires  to  emerge,  to  be  free  from  the  petty 
world  which  surrounds  him,  from  its  power,  its 
conditions,  its  narrowness,  its  necessities.  He 
desires  to  be  outwardly  free,  but  also  inwardly 
free — free  from  the  sordid  daily  limitations,  the 
narrow  habitations  and  boundaries  of  human 
life,  the  sensual  bondage  of  which  his  better, 
nobler  self  is  conscious. 

In  the  very  lowest  stage  of  religion  this 
instinct  for  redemption  either  does  not  exist 
or  is  very  vague  indeed ;  here  it  is  the  egoistic 
instinct  that  predominates.     Man  wants  some- 


Introduction  27 

thing  from  the  Being  whom  he  honours ;  he 
gives  in  order  to  receive.  But  even  in  this 
lowest  form  of  religion  there  are  yet  traces 
of  that  feeling  for  salvation,  an  absorption  in 
the  Godhead,  a  desire  for  self-abnegation.  And 
the  more  spiritual  religion  becomes  the  more 
these  phenomena  appear  to  which  reference 
has  already  been  made — ascetic  practices  of  all 
kinds,  the  annihilation  of  the  natural,  sensual 
life,  ecstasy,  religious  "  possession,"  the  God-like 
disposition  of  the  religious  mystic  who  absorbs 
his  whole  soul  in  the  Divine  and  turns  away 
utterly  from  all  earthly  things.  Many  of  the 
great  religions,  especially  those  of  India — Brah- 
minism.  Buddhism — express  this  idea  in  its 
magnificent  simplicity  and  austerity.  The  long- 
ing to  be  free  from  this  life,  to  attain  eternal 
rest,  is  the  central  idea,  and  destroys  all  others. 
Although  this  idea  of  redemption  in  its  absolute 
and  exclusive  form  may  be  dangerous  to  religion, 
yet  it  is  an  essential  part  of  all  higher  religious 
life.  Religions  have  rightly  been  arranged 
according  as  this  belief  in  salvation  was  strong  / 
and  powerful,  and  this  thought  of  a  higher  life 
occupied  a  prominent  position  ;  thus  in  order  of 
rank  Brahminism  and  Buddhism  occupy  a  lower 
position  than  Platonism,  the  religion  of  the 
later,  cultured  Greek  world,  and  Christianity 
stands  at  the  highest  point  of  evolution. 


2  8  What  is  Religion  ? 

Some  general  ideas  have  here  been  given 
which  must  now  be  explained  more  fully — they 
must  be  made  living  and  pregnant.  We  propose 
to  wander  through  the  "wide  world  of  religious 
life ;  we  do  this  with  a  sense  of  reverence,  con- 
vinced that  we  are  dealing  with  the  most 
powerful  fact  in  man's  mental  life.  Those  who 
reject  decisively  this  statement  of  belief,  who 
believe  that  the  religious  life  of  man  is  merely 
fantasy  created  by  man's  urgent  impulse,  and 
an  illusion,  will  have  no  desire  to  go  farther 
with  me  on  my  journey.  It  would  require 
an  entirely  separate  disquisition  to  deal  with 
these  objectors,  and  at  present  time  does  not 
permit  of  this.  But  those  who  have  had  some 
experience  of  the  religious  life,  who  feel  within 
themselves  at  least  a  questioning  and  a  seeking 
after  this  side  of  life,  will  accompany  me  on  my 
way.  In  doing  this  they  can  prove  whether  we 
are  right  in  saying  that  the  whole  religious  life 
of  man  and  his  history  springs  from  the  work 
and  action  of  God  by  means  of  which  He  draws 
men  individually  from  error  to  truth,  from 
imperfection  to  perfection,  from  egoism  to 
fraternity,  from  the  sensual  to  the  moral,  from 
the  natural  to  the  spiritual,  and  attracts  them 
to  Himself. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  RELIGION  OF  SAVAGES — TRIBAL    RELIGION 

IT  is  an  old  matter  of  dispute  whether  in 
investigating  the  beginnings  of  the  rehgious 
life  of  man  we  ought  to  start  with  the  religious 
condition  of  the  uncivilised  peoples  of  to-day. 
It  is  pointed  out  in  this  connection  that  if  we 
cannot  here  show  with  absolute  clearness  a 
decadence  of  human  life,  we  are  yet  dealing 
with  forms  of  human  life  which  have  remained 
stationary  and  unprogressive  for  thousands  of 
years.  It  is  stagnation  or  distinct  retrogression. 
If  we  want  to  observe  the  beginnings  of  budding 
religious  life  (they  say),  we  must  watch  the 
soul  of  the  child  as  it  develops.  It  may  be  at 
once  conceded  that  the  observation  of  the  reli- 
gious development  of  the  child  may  be  of  great 
value  in  investigating  religion,  but  it  must 
not  be  forgotten  that  the  forms  under  which 
the  religious  life  of  the  child  develops  are 
already  firmly  established  forms.     And  further, 


30  What  is  Religion  ? 

it  may  be  granted  that  we  must  regard  the 
religious  life  of  the  ancestors  of  progressive 
peoples  as  immeasurably  fresher,  more  vital, 
and  more  capable  of  development  than  the 
stagnant  life  of  the  present-day  people  who 
have  remained  low  in  the  scale  of  civilisation. 
Nevertheless,  the  excavations,  dating  from  pre- 
historic times,  in  modern  civilised  countries,  as 
well  as  the  conclusions  arrived  at  by  a  study  of 
comparative  folklore,  show  an  extraordinary 
agreement  between  the  earliest  stages  of  human 
life  and  the  mode  of  life  among  present-day 
savages,  and  the  view  therefore  seems  to  be 
justified  that  the  religious  life  of  the  latter 
reflects  the  religion  of  mankind  in  the  earliest 
days. 

But  which  nations  and  races  shall  we  consider 
as  uncivilised  ?  Speaking  in  general  terms,  we 
may  consider  as  such  the  great  mass  of  the 
human  race :  the  Malay  -  Polynesians,  the 
American  Indians,  half  the  Mongolian  race 
(particularly  the  Mongolians  of  Siberia),  and 
the  Negro  race.  When  we  speak  of  all  these 
peoples  as  savages  the  term  must  be  under- 
stood to  imply  reservations.  Among  such 
people  various  degrees  of  approach  to  civilisa- 
tion must  be  distinguished.  On  the  lowest 
stage  of  civilisation  we  must  place  the  Bushmen 
of  South  Africa  and  the  old  dwarf  population  of 


The  Religion  of  Savages      31 

Central  Africa,  and  also  the  inhabitants  of 
extreme  South  America,  the  dusky-coloured  race 
of  Melanesia,  and  some  Mongol  races.  Next,  a 
stage  higher,  come  the  Malay-Polynesians  and 
American  Indians,  who  are  perhaps  connected; 
on  the  third  and  highest  stage  may  be  placed 
the  Negro  races,  who  here  and  there  almost 
approach  to  civilisation.  It  is  not  without  reason 
that  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  compare  this 
threefold  classification  of  the  savage  races  with 
the  threefold  division  of  the  prehistoric  civilisa- 
tion of  the  ancient  and  modern  Stone  Age  and 
Bronze  Age ;  and  in  this  connection  it  is  to  be 
remarked  that  some  negro  races  have  even 
risen  to  the  use  of  iron. 

But  we  are  not  concerned  with  these  more 
minute  distinctions.  For  our  purpose  we  may 
regard  all  these  races  as  one,  and  point  out  as 
their  common  characteristic  the  universal  in- 
capacity to  organise  human  life  in  communities 
on  the  one  hand,  while  on  the  other  hand  there 
is  the  lack  of  all  understanding  of  chronology, 
and  therefore  there  is  no  permanent  tradition 
and  no  history.  In  the  tribal  life  of  such  people 
there  is  an  almost  entire  lack  of  any  cultivation 
which  depends  upon  conscious  effort  and  fore- 
thought. Through  the  natural  connections  be- 
tween families  and  kindred  large,  loosely  united 
communities  are  formed ;  we  have  a  tribal  life 


32  What  is   Religion  ? 

here  in  its  rudest  beginning,  communities  which 
arise  in  one  period  and  disappear  in  the  next 
without  leaving  a  trace.  In  Africa  there  are 
huge  tribes  which  disperse  almost  as  soon  as 
they  are  formed.  Corresponding  to  this  we  find 
numberless  languages  and  dialects  which  con- 
stantly merge  into  each  other.  Even  the  negro 
States  of  North  Africa,  which  stand  highest  in 
the  stage  of  civilisation  of  all  these  peoples,  have 
this  fl.uctuating  and  temporary  character.  But 
above  everything,  this  type  of  tribal  life  lacks 
the  characteristic  which  gives  to  human  com- 
munities such  great  support,  namely,  historical 
tradition,  which  descends  from  grandfather  to 
father  and  then  to  son.  The  basis  of  such 
tradition  is  lacking — namely,  chronology.  The 
mightiest  means  of  preserving  tradition,  writing, 
does  not  exist  in  any  sense  ^worthy  the  name. 
Thus  there  is  no  history,  no  past,  no  carefully 
collected  experience.  The  life  of  such  beings  is 
as  a  ship  driven  about  on  the  boundless  ocean,  a 
boat  without  a  rudder.  It  is  like  wandering 
about  with  a  dim  light  in  profound  darkness ; 
only  a  tiny  part  round  the  man  is  lit  up,  all  in 
front  of  him  and  all  behind  liim  there  are 
immeasurable  depths  of  darkness.  In  the  vast 
spaces  round  about  him,  in  the  eternal,  meaning- 
less point  of  time,  man  lives  out  his  little  life.  He 
does  not  know  the  past,  he  cannot  comprehend 


The  Religion  of  Savages      33 

the  future ;  he   lives   in   the   moment,   entirely 
dependent  on  the  chances  of  the  moment. 

At  this  stage  of  civilisation  therefore,  man 
lives  essentially  according  to  nature.  Con- 
sciously, he  does  not  yet  separate  himself 
from  surrounding  nature.  It  is  only  the  com- 
munal life,  historical  tradition,  and  the  capacity 
obtained  through  historical  experience  to 
shape  one's  own  life  free  and  consciously  that 
create  the  individual  life  of  man  and  the  feeling 
of  his  difference  from  the  surrounding  world. 
To  this  life  in  accordance  'with  nature  belongs  a 
peculiarity  found  in  all  thought  of  uncivilised 
men.  The  human  being  considers  all  things 
from  his  point  of  vie^v,  and  projects  himself  and 
his  life  into  all  things.  He  illustrates  every- 
thing by  analogies  with  his  own  life.  He 
believes  that  every  one  experiences  his  feelings, 
thinks  and  acts  as  he  does.  The  difPerence 
between  men  and  the  animal  is  not  felt.  At 
this  epoch  the  sagas,  the  fairy  tales  and  fables 
were  evolved,  in  which  man  appears  on  a  level 
with  the  animals.  Men  are  depicted  as  de- 
scended from  animals  ;  animals  change  into  men, 
and  men  into  animals.  Animals  talk.  To  the 
negroes  the  ass  is  only  dumb  out  of  idleness ; 
the  Arab  speaks  to  his  horse  as  to  a  friend ;  the 
Red  Indians  believe  that  magicians  are  to  be 
found  among  animals  as  well  as   among  men. 

4 


34  What  is  Religion  ? 

The  natives  of  Borneo  believe  that  tigers  have  a 
sultan  over  them.  In  the  fairy  tales  the  snakes 
have  their  king  and  their  queen.  This  removal 
of  all  barriers  and  distinctions  between  men  and 
animals  is  carried  still  farther.  The  trees  are 
living  creatures  similar  to  men ;  they  speak, 
they  sing,  they  bleed.  Men  are  descended  from 
trees,  they  spring  forth  from  the  trees ;  thus  the 
Kaffir  race,  the  Hereros,  tell  us  of  a  tree  which 
gives  birth  to  men,  and  according  to  another 
legend  of  the  Kaffirs  man  sprang  from  the 
reeds.  Even  the  difference  between  animate 
and  inanimate  objects  disappears,  especially  in 
the  case  of  things  which  possess  movement. 
The  rivers  and  streams  are  living,  animate 
things.  We  are  told  that  the  negroes  round 
Lake  Tanganyika  implore  the  white  men,  when  a 
storm  is  threatening  and  the  lake  rages,  to  lie 
down  in  the  boat,  because  the  lake  cannot  bear 
the  sight  of  them.  The  savage  sees  and  hears 
in  the  currents  and  cataracts  of  a  river  mis- 
chievous demons  who  lie  in  wait  for  their 
victims.  Men  are  changed  into  stones,  and 
stones  transform  themselves  into  men.  The 
Zulus  look  upon  the  rainbow  as  an  evil  monster 
that  kidnaps  children.  But  what  is  specially  to 
be  noticed  above  everything  else  is  this,  that 
the  savage  has  no  understanding  of  the  connec- 
tion between  things.     He   constantly  confuses 


The  Religion  of  Savages      35 

cause  and  effect,  and,  owing  to  his  defective 
observation,  he  connects  things  which  have 
absolutely  nothing  to  do  with  each  other.  A 
curious  exarople  of  this  is  seen  in  the  reverence 
paid  by  so  many  peoples  to  the  harbinger  of 
spring.  Thus,  among  the  Finns  the  cuckoo  is 
regarded  as  a  sacred  bird ;  this  is  quite  natural, 
for  when  the  cuckoo  calls  the  flowers  begin  to 
bloom,  the  trees  and  bushes  to  put  on  their 
livery  of  green,  and  spring  appears  in  the 
land.  Man  says  to  himself :  "  The  cuckoo  is 
a  magic  bird,  who  with  his  cry  brings  spring 
into  the  world."  Similarly  the  Mexicans  and  the 
Indian  tribes  reverence  the  kolibri  because  his 
coming  coincides  with  the  coming  of  spring. 
The  Egyptian's  worship  of  the  ibis  rests  on  the 
fact  that  it  makes  its  appearance  at  the  same 
time  as  the  Nile  rises. 

This  whole  mode  of  thought  in  which  man 
mingles  his  own  life  with  the  life  around 
him  without  any  accurate  observation  is  des- 
cribed by  the  term  "  animism,"  and  this  animism 
is  justly  considered  the  spiritual  foundation  of 
the  religion  of  the  savage. 

What  form  now  will  his  religion  take,  in 
accordance  with  these  ideas?  We  said  before 
that  religion  rests  upon  fear  of  the  more  or  less 
unknown  powers  which  everywhere  surround 
the   existence    of  man,   giving  life  or    bringing 


36  What  is  Religion  ? 

death,  blessing,  threatening  dangers,  friendly  or 
hostile.  We  also  said  that  this  unknown  world 
of  strange  powers  begins  very  soon  for  the 
human  being.  His  own  world  is  narrow  and 
limited ;  the  unknown  world  which  surrounds 
him,  and  threatens  him  at  every  step  with 
dangers,  represents  to  him  a  world  full  of 
spirits,  greater,  lesser,  or  very  insignificant. 
He  has  as  yet  no  conception  of  uniformity,  of 
cause  and  effect;  he  sees  and  traces  every- 
where the  workings  of  the  lesser  powers  which 
he  regards  as  spirits  possessed  of  capacities 
analogous  to  his  own,  sometimes  more  powerful, 
sometimes  less,  but  even  more  incalculable, 
more  capricious,  more  wonderful,  than  those  of 
the  human  being.  With  the  exception  of  the 
comparatively  few  objects  which  the  daily 
necessities  or  the  modest  needs  of  the  house- 
hold bring  under  a  commonplace  consideration, 
all  things  and  all  events  are  clothed  in  a 
mysterious  dimness,  and  in  this  false  light 
Nature  appears  to  him  as  a  great  house  of 
spirits,  and  the  course  of  Nature  as  an  undis- 
ciplined, mischievous  and  often  wild  and 
horrible  sport  of  the  spirits. 

To  the  savage  the  whole  world  seems  full 
of  spirits,  and  their  influence  is  to  be  seen  in 
small  things  and  in  large  ones,  in  the  great 
heavenly  phenomena,  in  the  rain,  the   thunder 


The  Religion  of  Savages      37 

and    the    lightning,  the   wind    and   the    storm. 
Spirits  dwell  in  the  spring  and  in  the  stream,  in 
the  tree  and  in  the  bush,  in  the  rock,  and  even 
in    the    mountain.       The    spirits    of    ancestors 
live    in   animals,   the    snakes    especially    being 
considered  as  their  abode.     Spirits  may  conceal 
themselves   in  the  most  insignificant  of  inani- 
mate objects — in   a  stone,  for  example,  which, 
breaking    away    from   the   cliff,    kills    a    man. 
This  is  not  the  work  of  Nature  but  of  an  evil 
spirit  that  dwells  therein.      A    negro  who   ran 
a  crooked  nail  into  his  foot  ascribed  this   mis- 
fortune, not  to    his   carelessness  or  to  chance, 
but  to   a  spiteful   demon   lurking    in   the   nail. 
Especially  everything  that  is  unusual,  strange, 
striking,  and  unexpected  attracts  the  religious 
attention    of   the  savage.      Thunder  and  light- 
ning,  of  all   the   heavenly  phenomena,  impress 
him    most.       Among     nearly    all     savages   the 
eclipse  of  the  moon  and  its  ever  varying  light, 
its    rising   and   its   setting,  is   accompanied   by 
religious    ceremonies    and    customs.       Sudden, 
inexplicable     drought     and      its      concomitant 
aridity,    illness,    and     especially    illness      with 
violent  symptoms,  sudden    and   violent     death, 
are   all   regarded   as     caused    by    the   working 
of    spirits.         Animals     of    curious     and    rare 
habits    and    behaviour — as,    for    example,    the 
snake — and   still   more   such   as   have   extraor- 


3  8  What  is  Religion  ? 

dinary    pcwers,    stones    and    other    inanimate 
objects  of  specially  striking  forms,  attract    the 
religious   attention    of    the   savage,   and   foster 
the  belief  that  these  are  the  abodes  of   spirits. 
We    must    now    consider    the   choice    which 
the    savage   makes,    amid     these    innumerable 
spirits,   of  one   as  a  special   object  of  religious 
veneration.      For  in  truth  this  universal  belief 
in   spirits,    this   fear    of  ghostly  presences   sur- 
rounding life,  is   not  really  religion.      Religion 
only    arises  when   there   is   choice,   when   man 
enters    into     a    definite,    though    unsystematic 
and  fleeting,  relationship   with   one   or   several 
of    many    spirits.     Here  it   must    be    observed 
that    men    at  this   stage   prefer   to   enter  into 
relationship   with   the   lower    spirits.     Most    of 
the  negro  races  recognise  a  powerful  heavenly 
being,  a  god  (there  is  no  need  to  suppose   that 
this  is  the  result  of  European  influences),  that 
is   to   say,    a   giver    of    life,   Heaven — not    yet 
divided     into    different     Divine     forms — which 
gives   rain   and   life,  which   storms  and   blows, 
and    with    his    eyes    (sun,    moon,     and     stars) 
looks  down  upon  the  earth.     But  at  the  same 
time  as  this  religious   idea   is   to   be  perceived 
among    the    negroes,     it     must     be     observed 
that    there    is    no    (or    scarcely  any)    religious 
veneo'ation  of  the  God  of  heaven.     The   negro 
is  convinced  that  that  Being  does   not  trouble 


The   Religion  of  Savages      39 

about  him.  and  that  He  cannot  be  influenced  in 
His  impartial  goodness  by  the  prayers  of  the 
creature.  Or  he  thinks  that  He  has  given  the 
government  of  the  world  to  the  lower  spirits, 
or  that  this  highest  God  is  only  for  the  white 
men  and  not  for  the  black  races.  The  negro 
gives  his  worship  and  his  veneration  to  the 
inferior,  smaller  spirits,  to  fetiches,  and  to 
the  spirits  of  ancestors.  The  same  remark 
applies  to  the  Malay-Polynesian  race.  An 
Almighty  God  is  there  recognised,  and  He  is 
honoured  in  myth  as  the  Creator  of  the  world, 
but  there  is  little  trace  of  a  worship  of  this 
high  God,  the  living  religion  being  a  worship 
of  spirits  and  ancestors. 

The  religious  veneration  which  arises  in 
this  way  is  stamped  with  the  character  of 
chance  and  change.  Arbitrary  and  haphazard  is 
the  choice  of  the  gods  who  are  to  be  specially 
venerated,  who  are  preferred  on  the  ground 
of  some  experience  or  other,  some  naive  obser- 
vations, some  caprice,  or  chance  occurrences. 
Tradition  and  custom  naturally  play  a  part 
in  this  matter,  but  they  are  continually  inter- 
fered with  by  individual  feeling.  Fluctuating, 
wavering,  and  constantly  varied,  yet  in  essen- 
tials curiously  uniform,  and  even  monotonous, 
are  the  forms  which  this  worship  takes.  In 
the    simplest    possible   way   gifts    are    offered; 


40  What   is   Religion  ? 

they  are  hung  on  the  sacred  tree,  thrown  into 
the  spring  or  into  the  river  ;  they  are  placed 
on  the  graves  of  the  dead,  of  the  ancestors. 
Again,  the  benefits  asked  of  the  spirits  are  of 
the  most  elementary  and  material  kind — life, 
health,  recovery  from  sickness,  rain,  fertility 
of  the  fields,  excellent  hunting,  many  children. 
It  is  at  this  stage  that  religion,  if  ever,  is  a 
private  concern  of  the  individual.  It  is  true 
that  there  are  indeed  high  and  mighty  spirits 
which  a  whole  community  of  human  beings — 
the  family,  the  clan  or  the  tribe — venerates  as 
protectors ;  but  of  far  greater  real  significance 
are  the  lesser  spirits,  under  whose  protection 
each  individual  or  each  family  feels  itself  to 
be.  Among  a  large  number  of  negro  tribes 
the  belief  holds  that  each  negro  has  his  own 
particular  protecting  spirit.  Further,  each 
negro  has  his  special  fetich  or  fetiches,  and 
he  watches  over  his  property  with  zealous 
care,  keeping  such  entirely  to  himself.  Hence 
at  this  stage  religion  is  almost  entirely  lacking 
in  any  moral  element.  The  idea  of  co-operation 
between  human  beings  plays  scarcely  any  part 
in  such  a  religion  ;  everything  in  it  is  based 
on  bare  use,  on  the  purely  material  needs  of 
the  ego.  Man  gives  so  that  he  may  receive ; 
he  offers  sacrifices  for  earthly  benefits,  and 
he  expects  that   advantage  and  benefit  will  be 


The   Religion  of  Savages     41 

the  direct  result.  If  the  worship  of  a  spirit 
gives  no  tangible  advantage  he  transfers  his 
worship  to  another  spirit.  No  moral  bond 
unites  the  spirit  and  his  worshipper ;  the 
spirits  themselves  are  never  conceived  as  moral 
beings.  They  are  considered  as  neither  good 
nor  bad,  although  fear  often  predominates 
over  reverence ;  rather  are  they  without  any 
definite  character,  but  are  capricious,  wonderful, 
strange,  and  favourably  inclined  towards  those 
who  understand  how  to  deal  with  their  won- 
drous ways  and  doings. 

From  this  chaos,  enormously  rich  in  details, 
and  equally  poor  in  any  creative  power,  two  or 
three  concrete  phenomena  emerge.  We  find  in 
the  lowest  stage  of  religious  life  fetichism  and 
magic,  and  in  a  higher  stage,  which  makes  for 
progress,  reverence  for  the  dead  and  the 
worship  of  ancestors. 

Fetichism  prevails  almost  entirely  among  the 
majority  of  people  and  tribes  belonging  to  the 
negro  race.  Feitigio  is  a  Portuguese  word,  mean- 
ing "  the  thing  that  is  made."  The  term 
"  fetichism  "  implies  the  worship  of  small,  insig- 
nificant objects  which  are  of  absolutely  no  value 
in  themselves ;  they  are  worshipped  by  the 
savages  on  the  supposition  that  in  them  there  is 
a  spirit  which  lives  and  works  as  the  soul  works 
in  the  body  of  man.     Fetichism  is  on  the  one 


42  what  is  Religion  ? 

hand  to  be  differentiated  from  Nature-worship 
{i.e.,  the  worship  of  natural  objects),  by  the  in- 
significance and  snaallness  of  the  objects,  and  the 
lack  of  reason  for  worshipping  them.  The  wor- 
ship of  a  mighty  tree,  of  a  spring,  of  a  river,  is 
not  to  be  called  fetichism  because  in  so  doing 
man  is  worshipping,  from  a  certain  point  of 
view,  a  superior  power.  On  the  other  hand, 
fetichism  must  be  most  clearly  distinguished 
from  idolatry.  The  objects  of  fetich  worship  may 
be  without  form,  or  with  it,  and  fetichism,  unlike 
idolatry,  lays  no  stress  on  the  image  and  its 
significance.  Fetichism  appears  as  the  most 
baseless  worship  of  presumably  higher  powers. 
How  does  such  fetich- worship  originate? 
Fetichism  has  as  its  foundation  the  belief  in 
spirits  which  has  already  been  described.  In 
accordance  with  this  belief  spirits  may  dwell 
everywhere,  even  in  the  most  trifling  objects. 
The  savage,  owing  to  some  experience  he  has 
had,  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  a  particular 
object  is  the  abode  of  a  spirit.  We  have  already 
mentioned  the  stone  which,  becoming  loosened 
from  a  precipice,  kills  a  man,  and  the  nail  which 
the  savage  runs  into  his  foot.  The  connection 
between  cause  and  effect  may  be  even  more 
illusory  than  in  these  cases.  The  following 
example  is  well  known :  A  savage  breaks  off  a 
piece  of  an  anchor  belonging  to  a  wrecked  ship, 


The  Religion  of  Savages     43 

and  dies  soon  after ;  from  this  time  forward  the 
dwellers  in  the  district  worship  the  anchor  as  a 
fetich.  Custom  and  tradition  come  in  here  ;  a 
fetich  is  handed  down  from  father  to  son. 
Whatever  may  be  the  reason,  the  savage  is 
convinced  that  in  this  particular  object  there 
dwells  a  living,  working  spirit. 

The  savage  now  enters  into  an  intercourse 
with  this  spirit  of  a  particularly  simple  kind. 
He  takes  possession  of  the  object ;  he  puts  it  in 
his  hut,  he  carries  it  on  his  body.  He  guards 
this  spirit — that  is,  this  particular  object — adorns 
it,  decorates  it ;  he  offers  it  gifts ;  he  feels 
happy,  safe,  and  secure  in  his  protection, 
especially  if  things  have  gone  well  with  him,  if 
he  has  been  successful  since  he  preserved  this 
object.     This,  then,  is  fetich-worship. 

This  close  connection  with  the  spirit,  however, 
does  not  generally  last  very  long.  It  is  based  on 
the  accidental  occurrences  in  the  savage's  life. 
If  he  has  been  fortunate  in  his  life  since  he 
selected  a  particular  fetich  as  his  guardian 
spirit,  then  his  confidence  in  the  fetich  increases ; 
if,  however,  this  is  not  the  case,  the  fetich  is  cast 
on  one  side,  and  another  is  put  in  its  place. 
Often  the  negro  has  a  whole  crowd  of  fetiches 
side  by  side.  One  brings  him  success  in  love,  and 
in  bringing  forth  children  ;  another  accompanies 
him  on   his  journeyings;  a  third   protects   him 


44  What  is  Religion  ? 

against  illness ;  a  fourth  and  fifth,  perhaps,  give 
him  good  luck  in  the  chase  and  fruitfulness  in 
the  fields.  Now  and  again,  indeed,  the  relation- 
ship between  a  savage  and  his  fetich  may  be 
lasting,  and  very  touching.  Daudet,  in  his 
"  Jack,"  has  depicted  for  us,  in  masterly  fashion, 
the  fidelity  and  piety,  the  implicit  trust,  of  a 
negro  boy  for  his  fetich. 

Even  more  widespread  than  fetich-worship,  at 
this  stage  of  religion,  is  the  phenomenon  of  the 
u  magician.  When  religion  is  universally  con- 
ceived as  a  belief  in  spirits,  the  teachers  in 
religious  life  are  naturally  those  who  specially 
understand  the  nature  and  working  of  spirits, 
and  know  how  to  influence  and  deal  with  them. 
The  fetich-men  and  rain-makers  of  the  negro, 
the  medicine-men  of  the  Red  Indian,  the 
schamans  of  the  Mongolian  tribes,  the  dervishes 
of  the  Arabs,  and  the  fakirs  of  the  Hindoos  are 
all  similar  phenomena.  The  magician  is  ever 
one  to  whom  the  spirits  are  submissive  and 
obedient,  whom  the  good  spirits  serve,  and  by 
whose  exorcism  the  evil  spirits  are  driven  away. 
The  means  by  which  he  works  are  mysterious 
rites,  magic  objects,  secret  exorcisms.  Once 
again  we  are  dwelling  in  a  world  of  extra- 
ordinarily varied  phenomena  which  can  scarcely 
be  grasped,  which  yet,  carefully  investigated, 
display  extraordinary  uniformity  and   likeness. 


The  Religion  of  Savages     45 

These  ideas  develop  into  the  belief  that  the 
magician  stands,  not  merely  in  a  peculiarly  close 
relation  to  the  world  of  spirit,  but  that  he  is  in 
the  most  intimate  intercourse  with  a  spirit  itself. 
If  spirits  may  dwell  in  all  possible  and  even  life- 
less objects — in  stone  and  wood,  in  plants  and 
animals — it  is  equally  possible  that  a  spirit  of 
greater  or  lesser  power  may  dwell  in  a  human 
being,  and  may  displace  his  ego  or  use  it  entirely 
for  his  own  purposes.  Thus  the  belief  arises 
that  a  spirit  dwells  permanently,  or  for  the  time 
being,  in  a  human  being  and  endows  him  with 
wonderful  magic  powers — it  may  be  of  prophecy, 
of  healing  the  sick,  or  bringing  down  the  rain. 
The  fetich-man,  among  the  negroes,  is  not  only 
in  possession  of  a  fetich  that  works  marvels,  but 
he  is  actually  possessed  of  the  fetich — that  is, 
of  the  spirit  which  is  in  personal  union  with 
him.  In  connection  with  these  ideas  an  exten- 
sive religious  ceremonial  has  been  evolved.  The 
most  curious,  but  by  no  means  foolish,  methods 
have  been  adopted  to  produce  this  indwelling  of 
the  spirit  in  man.  The  magician  wanders  for 
months  and  weeks  in  solitude ;  he  fasts  and 
hungers,  he  scourges  himself  and  mortifies  his 
flesh.  All  means  are  employed  to  produce  the 
greatest  exultation  of  the  spiritual  life  of  man 
with  its  consequent  reaction,  evinced  in  convul- 
sions, and  in  hypnotic  somnambulistic  trances. 


46  What  is  Religion  ? 

Music  plays  an  important  part  in  these  things. 
In  the  mad,  whirling  dance,  to  the  muffled  sound 
of  the  drum,  to  the  shrill  note  of  the  cymbal  or 
monotonous  flute,  in  the  evening,  or  at  night  by 
the  uncanny  light  of  torches,  enveloped  in  the 
smoke  of  the  incense,  surrounded  by  a  breathless, 
gazing  crowd,  the  magician  gyrates  and  twists 
about  until  he  rages  and  remains  in  a  state  of 
highest  exaltation,  or,  overcome  with  exhaustion, 
he  foams  at  the  mouth,  and  utterly  collapses. 
Whatever  he  may  say  and  do  in  this  condition  is 
not  due  to  himself,  but  to  the  mighty  spirit  which 
has  taken  possession  of  him.  It  is  evident  that 
we  are  here  dealing,  not  with  entirely  idle,  base- 
less fantasies  and  products  of  the  imagination, 
but  with  phenomena  of  man's  abnormal  life,  with 
religious  mania,  ecstasy,  frenzy.  We  are  dealing 
with  those  mysterious,  and  partly  incomprehen- 
sible phenomena  of  hypnotism,  suggestion,  and 
auto-suggestion ;  with  somnambulistic  states,  the 
gift  of  clairvoyance,  and  with  the  unknown, 
mysterious,  yet  fruitful  side  of  man's  mental 
life.  And  we  must  remember  that  all  these 
phenomena  appear  much  more  uncanny  and 
powerful  to  the  savages,  owing  to  their  mental 
condition,  to  their  lack  of  all  logical  thought, 
to  their  childish  credulity,  and  to  their  whole 
condition  of  mind,  stirred  to  its  very  depths  by 
this  belief  in  ghosts.     And  because  this  whole 


The  Religion  of  Savages     47 

mode  of  existence  rests  upon  the  actual  material 
facts  and  events  in  man's  life  and  co-operates 
with  them  the  belief  that  is  so  begotten  is  all 
the  more  widespread,  lasting,  and  ineradicable, 
and  has  lasted  down  to  the  present  time. 

We  now  turn  to  another  form  of  religion, 
belonging  to  this  stage,  the  most  comprehensible 
and  the  most  sympathetic — I  mean  the  worship 
of  the  dead.  No  form  of  religion  is  more  wide- 
spread than  this.  Wherever  we  look,  even 
among  the  more  enlightened  tribes  and  religions, 
we  discover  as  the  basis  of  their  development  the 
reverence  for  the  dead,  the  worship  of  ancestors. 
In  the  religion  of  the  great  Chinese  Empire  the 
worship  of  the  dead  is  the  really  vital  part,  so 
vital,  indeed,  that  it  forms  an  almost  impreg- 
nable barrier  against  European  civilisation.  It 
amounts  almost  to  a  certainty  that  the  worship 
of  the  dead  exists  in  all  the  religions  with  which 
we  are  now  dealing.  Indeed,  there  are  investi- 
gators who  see  in  this  worship  of  the  dead  the 
origin  of  all  religion. 

This  form  of  religion  rests  on  a  conception  of 
human  life  and  human  nature  that  is  very  simple 
and  very  widespread.  It  is  regarded  as  a  matter 
of  course  that  in  the  human  body  there  dwells 
an  independent  vital  essence — the  soul.  It  is  a 
curious  little  thing  which  beats  and  hammers  so 
that  the  blood  is  driven  through  the  veins ;  it  is 


48  What  is  Religion  ? 

revealed  in  the  face  by  the  hot  blood  of  anger ; 
it  is  the  source  of  our  thoughts,  our  resolutions, 
our  acts.  In  dreams  it  works  quite  independently ; 
it  leaves  the  human  body  and  wanders  through 
wide  districts  and  sees  wonderful  things.  It  is 
a  tiny,  delicate,  tender  being,  scarce  visible,  yet 
by  no  means  formless,  for  the  savage  has  not  the 

V  slightest  idea  of  a  spiritual  being.  It  has,  how- 
ever, only  a  gossamer,  delicate  corporeal  form. 
It  vanishes  with  the  last  breath  of  the  dying 
man.  It  is  itself  a  breath,  a  wind,  a  shadow,  a 
ghost.  Races  of  the  most  diverse  kinds  describe 
it  by  names  which  include  and  explain  such 
ideas. 

When  death  comes  to  man  the  body  decays,  but 

/  — and  the  belief  is  universal — the  soul  never  dies. 
It  merely  escapes  and  continues  its  own  shadowy 
existence.  Often  in  dreams,  sometimes  indeed 
when  they  are  awake,  at  the  cross-road,  in 
solitary  places  in  the  darkness,  people  have  seen 
the  dead  in  their  original  form,  and  what  one 
actually  sees  must  be  real.  The  soul  is  said 
to  remain  near  the  body,  it  hovers  round  the 
grave.  It  may  depart  thence,  but  it  gladly 
returns  thither  once  more.  Hence  it  is  the 
custom  to  leave  in  the  tombs  a  small  hole  through 
which  the  soul  raay  enter  and  depart.  Such 
apertures  are  to  be  found  in  many  dolmen, 
especially  in  India  and  the  Caucasus.     Often  the 


The   Religion  of  Savages     49 

ideal  prevails  that  the  soul  passes  away  with 
the  decay  of  the  body,  and  thus  the  widespread 
custom  of  embalming  and  mummifying  the 
body  arose.  The  dead  body  is  afforded  all 
possible  means  of  preservation  in  order  to 
guarantee  the  preservation  of  the  life  of  the 
soul.  This  belief  is  especially  strong  among 
the  Egyptians. 

So  man  surrounds  the  souls  of  the  dead  with 
religious  fear  and  veneration,  for  the  souls  are 
now  spirits.  With  this  idea  is  intermingled  the 
primal  feeling  of  religion — terror,  fear  of  the  f 
unknown.  These  dead  live  in  an  unknown 
world,  invisible  to  the  majority  of  men.  It  may 
be  that  they  will  once  again  become  corpore- 
alised,  and  in  the  form  of  an  animal,  especially 
in  the  form  of  the  mysterious  and  wonderful 
snake,  they  will  meet  their  descendants.  A 
huntsman  who  was  cutting  his  way  through  a 
thicket  in  the  wood  suddenly  and  unexpectedly 
encountered  the  form  of  an  animal  with  distinc- 
tive features  who  looked  at  him  searchingly  and 
calmly.  The  huntsman  believed  from  this  time 
forward  that  in  this  form  he  had  seen  his 
ancestor.  But  whether  the  dead  are  only  visible 
as  souls  hovering  round  the  grave  at  the  hour 
of  spirits,  or  whether  they  assume  a  corporeal 
form,  they  act  with  mysterious  powers.     And 

5 


50  What  is  Religion  ? 

although  they  are  in  many  ways  dependent 
on  the  living  they  are  yet  more  powerful — or 
at  least  powerful  in  quite  another  way — than 
man  in  his  bodily  form.  The  dead  demand  their 
rights :  woe  to  the  man  who  breaks  his  given 
word  to  the  dead !  With  invisible,  incorporeal 
hands  the  dead  obtain  what  is  due  to  them. 
Gerhard  Hauptman  in  a  striking  manner  has 
illustrated  this  idea  in  his  "Fuhrmann  Hen- 
schel."  The  feeling  of  connection  and  relation- 
ship between  the  dead  and  the  living  is  likewise 
aroused :  the  dead  belong  to  us  and  we  to  them. 
The  dead  desire  and  demand  from  their  descen- 
dants pious  care,  in  return  for  which  they  afford 
friendly  protection. 

In  the  worship  of  the  dead  one  aspect  specially 
predominates — the  feeling  of  horror  of  the  mys- 
terious and  the  strange,  fear  and  anguish  and 
a  striving  to  get  free  of  the  mysterious  world. 
Many  aspects  of  this  religion  of  the  dead,  and 
especially  of  the  worship  of  tombs,  indicate 
nothing  more  than  the  perpetual  guarding 
against  the  dead  so  that  they  may  not  return 
and  do  any  harm.  Among  the  negroes  of  South 
Africa  it  is  the  custom  when  a  chief  dies  to 
break  up  the  whole  camp,  journey  farther  afield, 
and  not  to  return  till  after  an  interval  of  years. 
They  fear  the  spirit  that  haunts  the  place.  It  is 
a  long  time  before  any  one  ventures  to  enter  the 


The  Religion  of  Savages     51 

hut  of  the  dead  man;  sometimes,  indeed,  no 
one  dares  to  do  this,  for  the  hut  is  his  property 
and  he  would  revenge  himself  on  those  who 
unrighteously  entered.  Through  Central  and 
South  Africa  traces  are  found  of  huge  heaps 
of  stones,  marking  probably  the  journey  of  a 
race  (the  Hottentots?)  who  gradually  pressed 
southwards.  To  this  very  day  it  remains  the 
custom  for  the  passer-by  to  cast  a  stone  on  to 
these  stone  heaps,  and  this  act  is  interpreted 
as  a  religious  rite  to  protect  oneself  against  the 
dead.  These  heaps  of  stones  were  originally 
burial-places ;  the  stone  is  thrown  to  render  the 
return  of  the  dead  difficult,  or  it  may  be  sym- 
bolic of  the  cessation  of  all  relations  between 
the  dead  and  the  living.  In  this  respect  the  old 
Indian  rite  of  burial  is  especially  interesting. 
Here  already  the  custom  of  corpse  burning  pre- 
vails ;  the  ashes  of  the  burnt  corpse  are  then 
buried  near  the  hut  or  the  village.  "  I  scatter 
the  earth  upon  thee ;  may  no  harm  come  to  me 
who  have  cast  this  clod."  Intimately  connected 
with  this  ceremony  is  a  second  holy  act — that  of 
the  removal  of  the  dead  away  from  the  living. 
After  a  certain  time — it  is  believed  that  by  now 
the  strength  of  the  dead  man  has  vanished — the 
remains  are  dug  up  and  removed  to  a  distance. 
The  mound  of  burial  is  erected  at  a  place  where 
the  village  is  no  longer  visible,  far  away  from 


5  2  What  is  Religion  ? 

the  path,  so  that  the  dead  may  never  find  his 
way  back.  Those  who  have  performed  this 
ceremony  return  to  the  village,  taking  pre- 
cautions of  various  kinds  so  that  the  return  of 
the  dead  man  shall  be  rendered  quite  impossible, 
"  The  living,"  so  they  say,  "  have  separated 
themselves  from  the  dead  ;  to-day  our  appeal  to 
the  gods  was  blessed.  Forward  we  go  to  the 
dance  and  the  merriment,  long  life  granted  to 
us."  This  widespread  custom  of  corpse  burning 
appears  originally  to  have  been  the  main  idea  of 
the  rite  of  protection  against  the  dead.  By 
burning  the  corpse  it  is  hoped  to  drive  away 
as  quickly  as  possible  all  that  is  horrible  con- 
nected with  the  decaying  body,  all  fear  of  ghosts  ; 
the  pure  flame  that  ascends  to  heaven  takes 
everything  away  with  it,  and  frees  man  from 
that  overwhelming  terror  of  ghosts.  Such  rites 
as  the  above  mentioned  have  not  yet  died  away. 
With  superstitious  fear  the  survivors  make 
quite  SLire  that  the  dead  man  is  carried  out  of 
the  door  feet  forwards,  for  otherwise  he  might 
return.  The  windows,  which  until  now  were 
open,  are  shut  as  soon  as  the  coffin  has  left 
the  house.  Deep  down  in  the  heart  of  man,  and 
ineradicable,  lies  this  fear  of  spectres. 

But  it  is  not  fear  alone  that  connects  the 
living  with  the  dead ;  the  feelings  of  kindred- 
ship  and  of  piety  exert   their  influence.     Gifts 


The  Religion  of  Savages      53 

are  sacrificed  to  the  dead  because  they  need 
them.  They  are  in  need  of  much,  those  poor 
souls.  They  need  nourishment  and  clothing  in 
their  new  life.  They  feel  cold,  they  are  hungry 
and  thirsty,  consequently  food  and  drink  are 
given  them.  The  offering  of  something  to  drink 
is  especially  popular,  for  in  so  doing  the  fiction 
that  the  dead  sip  up  the  drink  can  be  best 
maintained.  The  sacrifice  is  offered  in  the 
simplest  manner :  the  water  is  poured  into  an 
already  prepared  hole,  leading  into  a  sub- 
terranean channel  into  which  the  liquid  flows. 
The  ancient  Egyptians  built  in  their  burial- 
places  in  front  of  the  actual  burial-chamber, 
and  connected  with  it  by  a  small  opening,  a 
room  in  which  offerings  of  food  and  drink  and 
other  gifts  were  placed.  The  Red  Indian,  in 
accordance  with  the  generations  which  he 
honours  in  his  so-called  ancestral  sacrifice,  cuts 
three  furrows  in  his  fields,  and  then  places 
sacrificial  lumps  of  food  in  the  furrows,  and 
bowing  in  pious  prayer,  he  calls  upon  his  fathers. 
Then  he  takes  away  the  puddings,  firmly  con- 
vinced that  the  spirits  have  enjoyed  the  food. 
The  whole  tribe  gathers  together  around  the 
grave  after  the  burial,  and  also  on  the  solemn 
anniversaries  to  partake,  in  common  with  the 
dead,  of  a  solemn  meal.  Among  most  peoples 
the  dead  have  their  solemn  day  once  a  year ; 


54  What  is  Religion  ? 

then  they  leave  their  tombs  and  seek  the  abodes 
of  the  living,  demanding  gifts.  Food  is  placed 
in  front  of  every  house  for  them,  clothes  are 
given,  the  tombs  are  adorned.  Finally,  a  friendly 
appeal  is  made  to  the  dead  that  they  shall  now 
depart  from  the  living  again.  This  corresponds 
to  the  Greek  ^vpaZs  Kiip^g — "  Out  of  the  doors, 
you  souls  of  the  dead " ;  and  the  savage 
takes  a  broom  and  cleanses  the  dwelling  of  the 
spirits.  The  Persian  Frawardigan  Feast,  the 
Greek  Anthester  Feasts,  the  German  Feast  of 
the  Dead,  All  Souls'  Day — these  and  many 
other  festivals  bear  an  extraordinary  likeness 
to  one  another. 

It  is  not,  however,  only  piety  that  speaks  in 
these  customs :  the  dead  demand  sacrifices. 
They  may  show  themselves  revengeful  and 
spiteful  if  they  are  not  treated  with  considera- 
tion. And  they  reward  those  who  care  for 
them  with  rich  gifts.  Yet  piety,  reverence,  and 
love  do  show  themselves  in  all  these  rites  and 
ceremonies,  so  that  the  worship  of  the  dead 
is  of  high  value,  in  spite  of  the  chaotic  mixture 
of  superstition  and  egoism  which  belongs  to  it. 
Man's  glance  is  cast  over  an  invisible  world ; 
the  fate  of  human  life,  circumscribed  by  birth 
and  death,  is  unveiled.  The  worship  of  the 
dead  links  closely  one  generation  to  another ; 
the  son  remembers  his  departed  father,  and  in 


The  Religion  of  Savages      55 

turn  his  son  will  show  him  the  same  regard. 
The  whole  family  gathers  round  the  grave,  and 
in  honouring  the  common  ancestor  the  family 
develops  into  a  tribe. 

The  organisation  of  the  tribe  stands  midway 
between  the  more  or  less  unorganised  life  of 
the  savage  and  that  of  life  on  a  national  basis. 
The  tribal  life  is  an  ever  fluctuating  organisation 
the  peculiarities  of  which  are  very  difficult  to 
understand  and  characterise.  Data  concerning 
tribal  life  are  naturally  to  be  found  on  all  sides, 
especially  among  the  so-called  uncivilised  peoples. 
We  find  very  great  differences  here  with  regard 
to  the  greater  or  less  permanence  of  the  organi- 
sation and  to  the  degree  of  civilisation  attained. 
The  history  of  religion  now  affords  us  many 
definite  distinguishing  marks.  We  are  only 
right  in  speaking  of  an  organised  tribal  life 
when  religion,  conquering  the  lower  egoistic 
forms  of  belief  in  spirits,  becomes  the  pre- 
dominant interest  of  the  community,  and  lends 
to  the  community  a  firmer  structure  and  a 
closer  co-operation.  The  best  examples  of  such 
a  tribal  religion  are  afforded  to  us  by  the 
Semitic  tribes  of  Upper  Asia.  In  dealing  with 
this  subject  w^e  must  take  into  consideration 
the  traces  of  that  old  tribal  life  which  we  find 
in  the  New  Testament,  with  the  many  scattered 
references  to  old  Jewish  civilisation.    Our  know- 


56  What  is  Religion  ? 

ledge  of  Arab  life  before  Mohammed,  as  well 
as  the  life  of  the  majority  of  Arab  tribes  to-day 
who  have  degenerated  from  the  high  degree  of 
culture  of  the  age  of  Mohammed  and  his  suc- 
cessors to  the  tribal  stage,  must  all  be  taken 
into  consideration.  Certain  similar  examples  of 
a  lower  stage  are  shown  us  in  the  tribal  life 
of  the  North  American  Indians,  and  we  must 
not  forget  the  stagnant,  torpid  civilisation  of 
the  old  States  of  Central  and  South  America. 

Genuine  tribal  life  is  to  be  distinguished  from 
national  life,  a  higher  stage,  by  its  fixed  central 
idea,  that  of  blood-relationship.  Not,  indeed, 
that  the  large  tribes  consist  of  blood-relations, 
or  that  they  grew  out  of  the  family.  In  all 
probability  the  tribe  arose  from  the  union  of 
various  families.  Yet,  in  spite  of  this,  the 
principle  of  blood-relationship  is  firmly  held. 

Admission  into  the  tribe  is  admission  into  the 
community  of  blood.  This  community  of  blood 
is  regarded  as  something  concrete  and  material. 
In  the  blood,  according  to  the  widespread  idea, 
is  the  life ;  blood  in  common  signifies  life  in 
common.  According  to  this  view  an  artificial 
establishment  of  the  blood-relationship  is 
possible.  All  the  ceremonies  connected  with 
the  brotherhood  of  blood  rest  on  these  ideas. 
Let  it  be  assumed  that  a  stranger  approaches 
a   tribe  and   requests   admission   into   it.     Sup- 


The  Religion  of  Savages     57 

posing  this  is  granted  him,  he  must  swear 
brotherhood  to  the  chief  or  some  other  member 
of  the  tribe.  They  open  a  vein  in  their  bodies, 
and  drink  of  each  other's  blood  as  it  streams 
forth.  Now  the  same  blood,  the  same  life,  flows 
in  each  body — they  are  blood-relations.  And 
in  doing  this  act  the  newcomer  has  become 
a  blood-relation  of  the  whole  tribe ;  often, 
indeed,  he  actually  swears  brotherhood  to  each 
member  of  the  tribe.  An  animal  sacred  to  the 
tribe  is  then  slaughtered,  of  which  all  partake 
in  common,  the  importance  of  the  ceremony 
depending  on  participation  in  the  animal's  blood. 
Thus,  in  similar  sacred  meals,  it  is  often  the 
custom  to  have  the  meat  uncooked,  raw,  and 
eaten  in  its  own  blood. 

As  this  community  of  life  rests  on  community 
of  blood,  so  the  fundamental  law  of  this 
common  life  is  the  absolute  holding  sacred  of 
this  common  life  in  each  individual  member 
of  the  tribe.  The  idea  is  all  for  each,  each  for 
the  other.  The  highest  law  of  the  tribe  is 
blood-revenge.  It  is  considered  the  absolute 
and  unconditional  duty  of  the  tribe  to  answer 
for  the  life  of  the  individual,  and  to  avenge 
the  injured  and  murdered  man  in  accordance 
with  the  law  of  "an  eye  for  an  eye,  a  tooth 
for  a  tooth,  a  life  for  a  life."  The  permanent 
condition,    therefore,   of    tribal    life   is    one    of 


5  8  What  is  Religion  ? 

blood-feud.  If  a  member  of  a  clan  or  of  a  tribe 
is  killed  by  some  one  not  belonging  to  the  tribe, 
it  is  considered  the  bounden  duty  of  the  tribe 
to  avenge  the  death  of  its  member  by  the 
slaughter  of  the  murderer  or  a  member  of  his 
family.  Revenge  for  this  murder  is  undertaken 
by  the  adherents  of  the  other  tribe.  Thus  the 
ball  is  set  rolling  until  the  tribes  have  been 
decimated  and  practically  killed  ofP.  The  law 
of  blood-feud  retards  all  development  of  the 
tribes  towards  a  national  life.  Wherever 
there  has  been  any  development  conflict 
with  this  blood-feud  and  a  discontinuance  of 
this  horrible  custom  have  been  an  absolute 
necessity. 

Very  characteristic  is  the  form  that  religion 
assumes  at  this  stage.  We  see  at  once  signs 
of  decided  progress.  In  the  tribal  life  reverence 
for  common  gods  or  for  one  universal  God 
predominates.  Religion  ceases  to  be  a  private 
matter,  although  naturally  private  worship  still 
exists,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  side  by  side 
with  this  common  worship.  As  at  the  earlier 
stage,  belief  in  spirits  and  fetiches,  reverence 
for  magic  and  amulets,  especially  the  worship 
of  ancestors  in  the  form  of  the  whole  family, 
still  play  their  part.  But  the  interest  in  a 
common  belief  prevails  more  and  more.  The 
choice  of  the  objects  of  veneration  is  no  longer 


The  Religion  of  Savages     59 

entirely  left  to  chance,  to  the  individual  arbi- 
trary will. 

Belief  becomes  traditional,  now  and  then 
even  historical,  and,  to  a  certain  extent, 
veneration  is  directed  towards  the  higher 
powers.  And  here  we  reach  a  definite  point 
of  development.  The  solitary  savage  regards 
the  higher  powers  with  dull  astonishment  and 
shy  fear.  How  can  he  possibly  think  that  these 
powers  are  for  him?  In  the  tribal  life  the 
religious  capacity  of  the  human  mind  develops. 
The  tribe  finds  in  the  common  belief  in  higher 
powers  the  basis  of  its  life. 

Thus  at  this  stage  of  civilisation  we  already 
find  adoration  of  heaven  and  the  stars  clearly 
marked.  The  moon  and  the  sun,  the  powers 
of  illumination,  which  give  light  and  life,  are 
adored  above  all  others,  and  of  these  the  moon 
has  the  preference.  The  moon  seems  the  more 
wonderful  planet,  for  does  it  not  pierce  the 
night  with  its  light?  Uncivilised  man  does 
not  yet  know  that  the  light  of  day  proceeds 
from  the  sun.  To  him  the  moon  possesses 
the  most  peculiar  and  arbitrary  movements ;  it 
vanishes  and  reappears,  it  dies  and  lives  again. 
The  oldest  chronology  is  based  on  its  changes 
and  on  its  course.  Thus  the  moon-divinity  is 
held  in  greater  esteem  than  the  sun-god,  and 
in  many  languages,  German  among  the  number, 


6o  What  is   Religion  ? 

to  the  moon  is  given  the  manly  character,  to 
the  sun  only  the  feminine  one.  In  innumerable 
cases  the  god  of  the  winds  and  the  stars,  and 
above  all,  the  god  of  the  tempest,  is  worshipped. 
It  is  believed  by  many  that  Jahwe,  the  God  of 
Israel,  was  originally  a  wind  and  storm  God. 
Most  widespread  of  all  is  the  worship  of  the 
heavenly  God — that  is,  of  Heaven  itself — which  is 
not  regarded  as  consisting  of  the  many  powers 
mentioned  above,  but  as  a  single  powerful 
being,  that  thunders  and  lightens,  rains  and 
storms,  illumines  and  darkens.  The  well-known 
similarity  of  names — Djaus  Pitar  (among  the 
Red  Indians),  Zeus,  Ju-piter,  Tins  (among  the 
Germanic  tribes) — is  clear  evidence  that  the 
Indo-Germanic  race  before  its  separation  into 
difPerent  tribes  had  a  common  possession  in 
the  worship  of  the  God  of  heaven.  Reverence 
was  specially  paid — at  least  in  the  religions 
of  the  Semitic  tribes  with  which  we  are  so 
familiar — to  the  gods  of  the  earth.  The  worship 
of  the  gods  of  the  earth  who  gave  fertility 
to  the  land  was  especially  strong  in  the  nomadic 
Syriac-Arabic  tribes  of  the  desert.  Let  us 
picture  to  ourselves  a  nomadic  tribe  on  its 
journey.  Far  away  to  the  horizon  stretches 
the  sandy  desert  in  terrible  uniformity ;  no 
trace  of  life  is  to  be  seen.  The  sun  casts  its 
burning    rays    perpendicularly ;    the    fine   sand 


The  Religion  of  Savages     6i 

penetrates  through  the  traveller's  pores.  Men 
and  animals  are  nearly  exhausted.  Suddenly 
an  extraordinary  change  takes  place.  Far  on 
the  horizon  tall  trees  are  to  be  seen,  the  earth 
gradually  changes  its  appearance,  and  is  more 
and  more  clothed  in  green.  Nearer  and  nearer 
does  man  approach,  and  soon  he  stands  beneath 
the  shadow  of  tall  palms.  Springs  gush  forth 
and  bubble  and  give  the  longed-for  moisture, 
everywhere  a  luxurious  vegetation  covers  the 
earth.  It  is  a  contrast  as  of  life  and  death. 
Who  has  created  this  wondrous  life  in  the 
middle  of  the  desert?  The  wondrous  powers 
of  the  earth ;  and,  full  of  reverence,  the  nomads 
worship  the  powers  which  have  used  their 
influence  on  this  spot.  They  like  to  think  of 
these  gods  as  feminine,  and  they  worship  the 
mighty  Mother  Earth.  Baal  and  Astarte  of 
the  Canaanitish  and  Phoenician  tribes  were 
originally  gods  of  fertility  and  of  the  earth. 
Here  we  observe  a  curious  combination  of 
the  gods  of  fertility  with  quite  other  gods. 
Under  the  earth  there  are — at  least  according 
to  a  very  widespread  idea,  which  owing  to 
fire  burial  has  never  entirely  died  away — the 
dead.  These  tribes  with  whom  we  are  dealing 
like  to  think  of  the  community  of  the  dead 
as  organised,  having  as  their  chiefs  gods  of 
the   dead,   more   or    less   to    be    feared.     These 


62  What  is  Religion  ? 

divinities  of  the  dead  are  often  combined  with 
the  gods  of  fruitfulness.  This  is  clearly  seen 
in  the  Greek  mythology.  Demeter,  Persephone, 
Pluto  all  possess  this  double  character  of  the  god 
of  the  lower  world,  and  of  fertility  and  harvest. 

On  the  whole  the  tribe  worships  but  a  small 
number  of  gods.  The  life  of  the  tribe  is 
essentially  uniform,  and  but  few  gods  are 
needed.  The  life  of  the  tribe  is  extremely 
simple,  it  has  not  yet  been  divided  into  various 
departments ;  and  thus  it  is  concerned  with 
just  a  few  great  necessities.  A  few  gods  are 
sufficient  for  their  needs.  It  happens,  then, 
that  a  tribe  perhaps  has  only  one  god,  but 
naturally  this  is  no  form  of  monotheism.  The 
same  tribe  to-morrow  may  have  two  gods. 
The  gods  of  the  other  tribes  are  considered  just 
as  much  gods  as  the  particular  tribe's  own 
gods.  Very  frequently  the  divinity  is  differ- 
entiated into  a  manly  and  a  womanly  form. 
Baal  and  Astarte  are  worshipped  side  by  side. 

The  relation  of  the  tribe  to  its  god  is  a 
thoroughly  natural  one.  The  ruling  principle 
here  is  the  natural  relationship — blood-relation- 
ship. The  god  has  given  life  to  the  tribe ;  it 
is  the  father  or  mother  in  the  literal  sense. 
Often,  indeed,  simple  ancestor  worship  is  the 
basis  of  the  tribal  religion,  and  this  appears  to 
be    combined    in    a    curious   fashion   with    the 


The  Religion  of  Savages     63 

worship  of  the  higher  powers.  It  is  said  that 
in  the  beginning  of  time  the  heavenly  powers 
wandered  on  earth  in  human  form,  and  left 
behind  them  descendants,  the  ancestors  of  the 
tribe ;  and  we  have  also  the  manifold  legends 
of  men  sprung  from  the  earth.  The  earliest 
ancestors  of  a  tribe,  of  a  nation,  are  said  to 
originate  from  Mother  Earth  herself.  This 
worship  of  ancestors  and  of  tribal  heroes 
assumes  in  a  lower  stage  of  tribal  life  a  very 
curious  form,  to  which  only  passing  reference 
can  be  made  here.  Very  often  we  find  in  this 
connection  that  the  belief  indicates  that  the 
original  ancestor  of  the  tribe  was  some  animal 
who  had  married  the  tribal  mother  who  is 
regarded  as  of  human  origin.  According  to 
this  we  must  suppose  that  this  belief  originated 
at  a  period  when  the  gulf  between  man  and 
animal  was  not  considered  insurmountable  by 
the  universal  consensus  of  opinion,  and  when 
it  was  still  believed  that  a  spirit  might  become 
materialised  in  the  form  of  an  animal  (see 
page  49).  The  fact  that  the  original  father 
is  represented  under  a  strange  form,  w^hile  the 
mother  is  human,  shows  that  the  source  of 
these  ideas  is  to  be  traced  to  the  period  of 
the  matriarchate,  Tvhen  connection  with  the 
mother  and  not  with  the  father  constituted 
relationship  and  adherence.     The  result  of  such 


64  What  is  Religion  ? 

a  belief  is  that  the  whole  class  of  animal  in 
whose  form  the  original  ancestor  of  the  tribe 
appeared  is  regarded  as  sacred  and  inviolable. 
The  best  examples  of  this  curious  belief,  which 
is  known  as  Totemism,  are  to  be  found  among 
the  North  American  tribes,  but  it  is  believed 
that  Totemism  is  also  to  be  found  among  the 
Semitic  tribes.  Many  well-known  legends — 
especially  the  legends  relating  to  the  trans- 
formation of  Zeus  into  an  animal  and  his 
marriage,  as  well  as  perhaps  the  Romulus- 
Remus  story — point  to  Totemism. 

Many  curious  forms  of  worship  based  on  the 
idea  of  blood  relationship  are  found  at  this 
stage  of  human  life.  As  the  connection  with 
the  Godhead  rests  on  blood-relationship,  so  the 
object  of  worship  is  often  the  renewal  and 
restoration  of  this  relationship.  For  this 
relationship  may  easily  be  broken  or  loosened 
by  the  guilt  of  the  tribe  or  the  anger  of  the 
god,  and  therefore  the  god  and  the  tribe  must 
once  more  cement  their  blood-union.  Perhaps 
a  sacred  animal  is  sacrificed  to  the  god  ;  a  por- 
tion of  the  blood  is  poured  on  to  the  altar, 
and  this  the  god  drinks,  the  rest  is  drunk  by 
the  tribe,  and  now  once  more  the  same  blood 
flows  in  the  veins  of  the  god  and  the  tribe. 
A  very  instructive  example,  lying  close  at  hand, 
that  of  the  covenantal  sacrifice,  is  given  in  the 


The  Religion  of  Savages      65 

second  book  of  Moses  (ch.  xxiv.  1-8).  Moses, 
after  the  sacrifice  of  the  animal,  poured  a 
portion  of  blood  on  to  the  altar,  the  rest  he 
sprinkled  over  the  people.  It  is  due  to  the 
aversion  to  using  blood  that  here  the  blood  is 
no  longer  drunk,  it  is  only  sprinkled.  And  it  is 
explicitly  stated  that  it  is  the  blood  of  the 
covenant.  From  henceforth  the  sacrifice  comes 
to  be  regarded,  it  may  be  said,  as  a  sacra- 
mental meal,  when  the  tribe  and  the  Godhead 
are  bound  together  in  intimate,  closest  con- 
nection. The  Mexican  religion  is  especially  rich 
in  elaborate  rites  of  this  kind,  in  which  human 
sacrifice  and  cannibalism  form  an  integral  part. 
It  is  quite  natural  that  here  human  sacrifice 
should  be  considered  an  especially  sacred  sacri- 
fice. The  Mexican  religious  observances  in- 
cluded so  many  of  these  horrible  sacramental 
meals  that  the  Spaniards,  on  getting  to  know 
of  these  practices,  spoke  of  them  as  blasphemous 
imitations  of  the  Holy  Sacrament,  inspired  by 
the  devil.  The  truth,  however,  seems  to  be 
that  the  same  religious  impulse,  that  longing 
for  an  intimate  and,  if  possible,  a  bodily  union 
with  the  Godhead,  which  is  displayed  at  this 
stage  in  so  naked  a  fashion,  is  seen  later  in 
a  purer  form  in  the  Catholic  idea  of  the 
Sacrament,  which  enjoys  a  very  widespread 
belief. 

6 


66  What  is  Religion  ? 

The  gods  are  now  the  protectors  of  the  tribal 
life:  it  is  their  own  life  which  they  are  pro- 
tecting, and  the  tribe's  destruction  would  be 
their  destruction.  Thus  they  are  the  protectors 
and  guardians  of  the  blood-revenge  and  the 
blood-feud.  In  the  later  national  belief  of 
the  Greeks  we  clearly  perceive  the  conscious- 
ness that  the  old,  gloomy  gods  of  night,  whose 
rule  is  broken  by  the  Olympian  gods  of  light, 
were  the  upholders  of  inflexible  justice  and 
the  blood-feud.  Readers  will  recollect  the  figures 
of  the  Eumenides  and  the  Erinyes,  the  revenge- 
ful deities  who  pursue  the  murderer.  "They 
attach  themselves  to  the  soles  of  his  feet,  the 
terrible  powers  of  the  night." 

In  their  character  of  protectors  of  the  life 
of  the  tribe  the  gods  are,  above  everything 
else,  gods  of  war.  Jahwe's  original  sanctuary, 
the  Ark  of  the  Covenant,  shows  Him  as  the 
God  who  leads  the  Israelitish  tribes  to  battles 
and  wars.  Finally  the  tribal  gods  are  the 
givers  of  all  fertility  to  the  land.  They  are 
specially  remembered  at  the  joyful  harvest 
festival,  the  tribute  due  to  them  is  gladly 
paid  ;  the  tribesman  feels  bound  body  and  soul 
to  his  god.  Among  the  Semitic  tribes  the 
god  is  simply  called  Lord,  Lady,  King,  Queen. 
The  phenomenon  of  simple  absorption  in  the 
Godhead   now    develops    into    horrible    human 


The  Religion  of  Savages      67 

sacrifice,  especially  in  the  form  of  the  sacrifice 
of  children,  and  of  prostitution.  We  have 
already  spoken  of  human  sacrifice  in  the  Mexi- 
can religion ;  the  custom  of  sacrificing  children 
to  Moloch  existed  down  to  Jeremiah's  time. 
Among  the  North  African  Punic  tribes  who 
had  wandered  there  from  PhcBnicia  human 
sacrifice  played  a  very  important  part  even  in 
the  time  of  Hamilcar  and  Hannibal.  As  late 
as  the  second  century  A.D.  TertuUian  mentions 
human  sacrifice  in  North  Africa.  Prostitution 
in  the  service  of  the  Canaanitish-Syrian  Astarte 
was  customary.  In  the  ancient  law  of  Ham- 
murabi we  find  both  these  phenomena,  the 
consecrated  virgin  and  the  consecrated  prosti- 
tute. 

We  have  already  wandered  a  good  distance. 
Already  we  see  that  the  religious  life  is  striving 
after  higher  forms,  that  a  cormnon  faith  is 
rising  above  the  arbitrary  thoughts  and  fan- 
tasies of  the  individual.  Religion  is  becoming 
a  matter  of  the  community,  is  indeed  the  basis 
of  human  communities.  In  this  common  belief 
men  turn  to  the  higher  powers.  The  religious 
life  is  no  longer  the  scene  of  human  egoism. 
A  moral  impulse  is  evolved  which  indeed  is 
only  seen  as  very  confined  and  restricted  in 
the  tribal  life;  still,  the  moral  idea  begins  to 
exist.      The  feeling   of  the   one   for  the   other 


68  What  is  Religion  ? 

and  all  for  the  one,  of  the  one  for  the  whole, 
arouses  the  perception  of  positive  obligation. 
It  is  true  this  idea  appears  in  horrible  forms — 
in  blood-vengeance  and  blood-feuds,  in  human 
sacrifice  and  prostitution.  But  yet,  the  feeling 
of  absolute  worship  springs  into  life ;  the  God- 
head has  power — complete,  kingly  power.  Man 
must  obey  it. 

We  have  wandered  far,  but  we  are  still  very 
far  from  having  reached  the  heights. 


CHAPTER    III 


NATIONAL    RELIGIONS 


NATIONAL  life  is  created  by  the  union 
of  different  tribes.  Thus  Babylon  took 
the  lead  of  the  city  communities  of  the  Baby- 
lonian plain,  and  the  Babylonian  Empire  arose. 
In  Egypt  the  separate  districts  and  provinces 
were  merged  into  the  one  empire  ;  and  under 
the  leadership  of  Moses  the  tribes  of  Israel 
became  a  nation.  Mohammed  compelled  the 
Bedouin  Arabs  to  become  a  national  unity.  In 
the  transition  from  the  tribal  life  to  the  national 
life  the  fiction  of  blood-relationship  and  blood- 
unity,  on  which  tribal  life  is  based  vanishes. 
The  fundamental  law  of  blood-revenge  and 
blood-feud  which  has  hitherto  obtained  is  re- 
placed by  the  idea  of  regulated  justice.  No 
longer  does  the  clan,  the  family,  avenge  the 
murder  of  one  of  its  members :  those  in 
authority,  acting  in  the  interest  of  the  whole 
community,  guard  the  inviolability  of  the  law, 
and  the  idea  of  public  justice  arises. 


yo  What  is  Religion  ? 

New  links   in  the   common   life   are   forged : 
a  great   expansion    of   the    idea   of   life   in  the 
community  takes  place.     The  nation  takes  over 
the  management  of  a  large  number  of  matters 
which  concern  the  whole  community.     Division 
of    labour    begins ;     the  separate  occupations — 
those  of  the  soldier,  the  peasant,  the  artisan — 
become  now  distinct.     Fighting  still  remains  a 
most   important   occupation   of    the   communal 
life,  but  it  is  not  the  only  important  one.     There 
are    also  the    works   of    peace — industry,  trade, 
mighty    buildings,    undertaken    by    the    many, 
the    beginnings    of     art,    regulations     for    the 
administration    of    justice,    social     institutions. 
The   nation   experiences  a   history  in   common, 
and   an   attempt  is  made  to  fix  this  history  in 
the  memory,  at  least  in  rough  outline.     The  art 
of   chronology  arises,  the    art  of   writing  is  de- 
veloped in  its  most  elementary  form  ;  the  events 
of  the  past,  the  great  deeds  of  ancestors  handed 
down  chiefly  in  an  oral  form,  mostly  in  song,  or 
already  written,  cement  more  firmly  the  common 
life.    The  moral,  personal,  historical  relation  now 
enters  into  the  life  of  man  in  the  community  in 
place  of  the  merely  natural  one. 

To  this  new  stage  of  civilisation  corresponds 
a  new  kind  of  religion.  A  large  number  of 
quite  definite,  characteristic,  national  religions 
now  rise  before  our   sight.     We   distinguish,  in 


National  Religions  71 

the  first  place,  the  religions  of  stagnant  civili- 
sations— those  of  the  old  States  of  Mexico  and 
Peru  and  of  Egypt,  and  the  old  original  religions 
of  China  and  Japan ;  then,  in  the  second  place, 
the  religions  of  the  progressive  nations — such 
as  those  belonging  to  the  Semitic  and  Indo- 
Germanic  race.  To  the  former  belong  the 
religions  of  Babylon  and  Assyria,  the  ancient 
Israeli tish  and  Phoenician  religion,  the  religions 
of  the  ancient  Hindoos ;  to  the  latter  the  re- 
ligions of  the  Persians,  of  the  Greeks,  the 
Romans,  the  Slavs,  and  the  Germanic  tribes.  We 
will  endeavour,  first  of  all,  to  set  forth  some 
common  characteristics  of  this  religion  based  on 
national  life. 

I.  To  the  manifold  and  varied  aspects  of  life 
at  this  stage  corresponds  the  variety  of  large 
characteristic  idols.  The  basis  of  national  life 
is  the  basis  of  polytheism.  In  various  ways 
and  from  various  motives  Polytheism  is  de- 
veloped. The  separate  tribes  and  districts 
which  unite  to  form  one  nation  and  one  country 
bring  their  tribal  deities  with  them.  While  in 
the  one  case  there  is  unity  of  national  life,  in 
the  other  there  is  plurality  of  gods.  The  Baby- 
lonian and  Egyptian  idols,  which  can  almost  all 
be  localised,  afford  excellent  examples.  Thus  the 
Babylonian  seaport  Eridu  was  the  place  of 
worship   of    the    idol    Ea,    the   town   of  Nipur 


72  What  is   Religion  ? 

of  Bel,  the  town  of  Ur  of  the  Moon-god 
Sin.  The  sun  (Shamas)  was  especially  wor- 
shipped in  Sippar,  a  Marduk  in  Babylon,  Nebo 
in  Borsippa.  The  gods  increased  in  power 
with  the  increase  in  power  of  the  individual 
towns,  and  finally  formed  themselves  into  a 
pantheon  under  the  rule  of  Marduk,  the  god 
of  Babylon.  In  precisely  the  same  way  the 
great  Egyptian  deities  were  originally  local 
deities.  Ptah  was  the  deity  of  Memphis,  Ra  of 
On  Heliopolis,  Ammon  of  Thebes,  Thoth  of 
Hermopolis,  Osiris  of  Abydos,  and  so  on. 
The  amalgamation  of  the  tribes  is  often  shown 
by  the  fact  that  the  gods  enter  into  a  relation- 
ship with  each  other.  The  idea  of  the  trinity 
of  the  father,  mother  and  son  (or  daughter) 
was  especially  pleasing  at  this  stage  of  civili- 
sation. Thus  the  Egyptian  Mut,  the  goddess 
of  a  district  near  Thebes,  becomes  the  spouse 
of  the  great  Ammon  of  Thebes,  and  Mentu, 
the  god  of  a  neighbouring  district,  is  their 
son.  In  Babylon  there  is  the  trinity  of  Sin 
(the  moon),  Shamas  (the  sun),  and  Ishtar,  or 
father,  mother  and  daughter.  The  god  of 
the  most  important  tribe  among  those  that  are 
forming  a  union,  the  divinity  of  a  town  which 
succeeds  in  gaining  precedence,  is  regarded  as 
the  presiding  deity.  Just  as,  one  after  another, 
the  towns  of   Memphis,  Heliopolis,  and  Thebes 


National   Religions  73 

gained  the  mastery,  so  in  the  same  order  Ptah, 
Ra,  and  Ammon  obtained  precedence  among 
the  gods.  With  the  rise  of  Babylon  Marduk, 
the  hitherto  entirely  insignificant  local  divinity 
of  Babylon,  rose  to  be  the  most  important  god 
in  the  Babylonian  Pantheon ;  with  the  rise  of 
Athens,  Athene  became  the  chief  goddess  of 
the  Greeks,  and  Apollo  stepped  into  great 
power  as  the  protecting  deity  of  the  Delian 
confederations. 

A  second  impulse  to  polytheism  was  the 
diversity,  ever  growing  greater,  of  life  on  a 
national  basis,  and  this  impulse  is  generally 
a  somewhat  later  manifestation  than  the  one 
already  mentioned.  When  the  remembrance 
fades  away  that  the  hierarchy  of  gods  originated 
in  the  divinities  of  individual  tribes  and  towns, 
separate  provinces  of  the  national  life  are 
assigned  to  the  separate  gods  according  to 
their  character.  The  divinity  of  the  conquering 
tribe  remains  the  god  of  war,  and  probably  the 
god  of  the  conquered  tribe  is  considered  the  god 
of  shepherd  and  peasant  life.  Side  by  side  with 
the  gods  of  the  firmly  established  cities  which 
are  advancing  in  civilisation  stands  the  divinity 
of  the  subject  people  who  pay  tribute — the  god 
of  herds  and  fields.  The  Greek  tribes  and 
towns,  most  of  whose  gods  were  apparently 
the   common   property   of    the   Hellenic    tribes 


74  What  is  Religion  ? 

before  the  disruption,  carried  this  principle  of 
the  division  of  labour  among  the  gods  into  every 
single  department  of  life.  But  indeed  we  find 
the  same  principle  everywhere.  Thus  there  are 
deities  of  war,  gods  of  the  fields,  of  agriculture, 
and  of  the  herds — and  even  indeed  special  gods 
for  the  different  kinds  of  herds — gods  of  towns, 
of  civilisation,  of  industry  and  handiwork,  of  art, 
of  the  council,  of  "svisdom,  of  justice,  gods  of 
trade  and  navigation  and  so  forth,  gods  who 
protect  travellers  and  strangers,  gods  of  civili- 
sation, and,  above  all,  gods  of  the  arts  of  writing 
and  speaking.  Near  the  gods  of  the  living  stand 
the  gods  of  the  dead,  the  rulers  of  the  under- 
world. The  dead  as  well  as  the  living  form  an 
organised  empire,  though  indeed  a  shadowy 
one,  and  this  kingdom  of  the  dead  has  its 
ruler. 

The  gods  who  exercise  the  greatest  influence 
in  men's  belief  thus  unite  the  most  varied 
qualities  and  activities  and  develop  into  com- 
plicated individualities.  I  may  mention  the 
Babylonian  Marduk,  the  Indian  Varuna,  Ahura 
of  the  Persians,  the  Egyptian  Osiris,  Zeus, 
Apollo,  Athene. 

This  multitude  of  gods  forms  a  kingdom  of 
the  gods  at  the  head  of  which  there  is  a  supreme 
god  or  several  mighty  gods.  The  best  examples 
of  such  kingdoms  are  afforded  us  by  Babylon, 


National  Religions  75 

Egypt,  Greece,  and  by  the  people  of  ancient 
India,  by  the  Persian  and  by  the  Germanic 
tribes. 

II.  Gradually  the  gods  develop  into  person- 
alities ;  they  are  now  endowed  with  moral 
worth,  not,  naturally,  moral  worth  in  our  sense, 
in  the  highest  sense  of  the  word ;  nevertheless 
it  is  moral  worth.  This  is  seen  most  clearly  in 
the  fact  that  from  this  time  forward  a  more  or 
less  sharp  distinction  is  made  between  gods  and 
demons.  The  gods  may  be  severe,  stern,  horrible, 
gloomy,  but  they  are  worthy  of  worship  ;  the 
riOog  is  in  them,  they  have  a  characteristic 
demeanour,  a  conscious  individual  will.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  demons  are  evil  spirits  of  a 
lower  nature,  intent  on  mischief,  on  destruction 
and  annihilation.  Man  worships  the  gods,  and 
finds  in  them  his  ideals  ;  for  example,  the  Indian 
war  god,  delighting  in  battle,  ever  quarrel- 
ling, often  drunk,  intent  on  love  intrigues,  yet 
embodies  the  ideal  of  the  Hindoo  warrior  caste. 
The  demons,  on  the  other  hand,  are  hated,  and 
man  flies  from  them.  Sacrifice  is  offered  to 
them,  but  not  worship  ;  the  sacrificial  food  is 
flung  to  these  monsters  in  the  same  way  as  food 
is  thrown  to  the  dogs  and  the  wild  animals. 
The  distinction  that  is  made  between  the  belief 
in  spirits  of  a  lower  nature  and  the  worship  of 
gods  with  some  moral  qualities,  and  the  aversion 


76        ,    What  is   Religion  ? 

of   evil   spirits    and    demons    marks   a   distinct 
progress  in  the  religious  life  of  men. 

Now  the  gods  begin  to  be  gradually  released 
from  their  original  destiny.  Originally  nearly 
all  the  gods  stood  in  clear  relation  to  the  great 
powers  of  Nature.  But  in  the  process  of  develop- 
ment this  limited  relationship  falls  into  the 
background  or  is  completely  forgotten,  and  in 
its  place  a  manifold  relation  to  human  life 
exists.  Marduk,  at  first  the  god  of  light  and 
the  sun,  then  the  god  of  the  city  of  Babylon, 
becomes  the  god  of  the  Babylonian  empire,  the 
creative  god  who  has  created  an  ordered  world 
out  of  chaos.  The  Hindoo  Varuna — it  is  not 
known  whether,  originally,  he  was  the  Divinity 
of  the  heavens  or  of  the  moon — becomes  the 
almighty  god  who  with  his  great  eyes  watches 
over  morals,  justice,  and  order.  Ahura,  the 
Persian  god  of  heaven,  becomes  the  god  of 
civilisation,  in  whose  service  man  tends  the 
herds,  rises  from  a  nomadic  life  to  a  settled  life, 
builds  roads,  makes  bridges,  founds  towns, 
wages  war  against  barbaric  hordes,  destroys 
wild  and  harmful  animals,  and  i)i*actises  faith- 
fulness and  truth  towards  his  neighbours.  We 
shall  see  later  how  in  the  prophetic  religion  of 
ancient  Israel  the  belief  in  Jahwe,  the  War  God 
and  the  national  God,  developed,  and  how^  in  the 
Greek  religion  the  figures  of  the  heavenly  gods 


National   Religions  77 

Zeus  and  Apollo  (whose  original  significance 
— was  it,  perhaps,  the  God  of  Light,  or  of  the 
herds  ? — is  not  quite  clear)  rose  into  prominence. 

III.  It  is  in  connection  with  this  development 
that  the  gods  received  names.  In  the  earlier 
stages  they  had  no  particular  names,  or  at  least 
no  individual  names.  Their  names  merely 
expressed  their  original  import  (thus  Sin  the 
moon,  Shamas  the  sun,  Urania  the  heavens, 
Gaia  the  earth) ;  or  their  relation  to  men,  as  we 
see  in  the  names  of  the  Canaanitish-Phoenician 
gods  Baal  [Adon],  Baalath,  which  correspond 
to  Lord,  and  in  Moloch,  Milkom,  Melkarth, 
forms  of  "king."  But  now  the  gods  receive 
proper  names.  Through  long  use  and  corrup- 
tion the  names  lose  their  obvious  meaning.  In 
earlier  times  the  natural  object  and  the  god 
which  were  originally  identical  were  described 
by  one  and  the  same  word ;  now  either  the 
god  or  the  object  receives  another  name.  A 
distinguished  scholar  has  observed  very  rightly 
that  where  this  process  of  transformation  takes 
place  very  quickly  the  gods  are  given  on  this 
account  a  specially  distinguished  place  in  the 
religion.  Only  persons  have  proper  names,  and 
only  gods  whose  names  are  no  longer  intelligible, 
and  no  longer  reflect  their  original  import,  be- 
come personalities. 

IV.  It  is  at  this  stage^of  development  likewise 


78  What  is  Religion  ? 

that  the  gods  assume  definite  forms.  In  the 
national  religion  the  image  plays  an  impor- 
tant part ;  indeed,  the  image  represents  an 
advance  in  the  development  of  religious  life. 
The  right  view  of  images  has  been  obstructed 
largely  owing  to  the  aversion  with  which  the 
Old  and  the  New  Testaments  regard  the  worship 
of  images.  People  forget  that  the  men  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments — Jeremiah,  the  second 
Isaiah,  Paul — were  engaged  in  actual  war- 
fare with  lower  forms  of  religion,  and  were, 
therefore,  not  capable  of  an  impartial  historic 
judgment.  We  must  make  it  perfectly  clear  to 
ourselves  that  the  image  is  not  a  fetich, 
although  for  the  great  mass  of  people  it  may 
have  this  meaning  (just  as  the  holy  pictures 
assume  this  significance  to  Catholic  peasants) 
but  merely  a  symbol ;  the  image  is  not  the  god 
who  is  to  be  worshipped,  but  merely  its  repre- 
sentation. Wherever  the  image  is  set  up  there 
the  god  will  be  present.  The  god  is  by  no  means 
present  everywhere ;  but  here  in  this  particular 
place  man  may  call  upon  him ;  here  he  will  grant 
help  and  show  favour.  We  can  trace  the  origin 
of  the  image  from  its  rudest  beginning.  In  the 
earliest  ages  a  simple,  unhewn  stone,  a  rough 
piece  of  wood  which  was  set  up,  represented  the 
Godhead.  The  story  of  Jacob  illustrates  this 
transition   period  with  unmistakable  clearness. 


National  Religions  79 

Jacob  in  a  dream  saw  the  heavens  open,  and 
God  and  His  messengers  ascending  and  descend- 
ing. When  he  awoke  he  cried  out :  "  How 
dreadful  is  this  place  !  this  is  none  other  but 
the  house  of  God  and  this  is  the  gate  of  heaven." 
Then  he  set  up  a  stone  and  anointed  it  with  oil 
and  called  the  spot  Beth-el,  the  house  of  God. 
In  this  way  the  image  was  evolved.  These 
stones,  with  the  rough  pieces  of  wood  which 
were  placed  near  the  altar  to  represent  the 
Godhead,  played  a  clearly  recognisable  part  in 
the  service  of  the  God  of  Israel  as  depicted  in 
the  Old  Testament.  Then  a  step  farther  in 
advance  was  taken ;  the  stone  or  piece  of  wood 
was  provided  with  a  face,  then  with  very  rough 
arms  and  legs,  and  now  the  idol  is  finished.  To 
this  stage  of  civilisation  belongs  the  Hermes  of 
ancient  Greece,  whose  rough,  unshapely  form 
called  forth  the  scorn  of  Alcibiades. 

The  Godhead  has  been  represented  in  the 
image  in  many  varied  forms.  The  image  has 
not  by  any  means  always  been  in  the  form  of 
the  human  figure.  The  more  the  strange  and 
the  uncanny  predominates  in  the  Godhead  in  the 
lower  stages  of  religion,  the  more  often  the 
image  assumes  the  form  of  an  animal.  The 
worship  of  the  Godhead  in  the  form  of  a  bull, 
derived  from  the  Canaanitish  worship  of  Baal, 
penetrated    even    into    the    ancient    Israelitish 


8o  What  is  Religion  ? 

worship  of  Jahwe.  The  stage  reached  by 
religions  may  be  estimated  according  to  the 
form  taken  by  the  image  of  the  Godhead.  Those 
peoples  who  are  at  a  low  stage  of  civilisation  or 
have  remained  stagnant  represent  the  Godhead 
in  the  form  of  an  animal.  The  animal  character 
of  the  gods  is  quite  clearly  visible  in  the 
Canaanitish-Phoenician,  the  Mexican,  and 
Egyptian  religions.  To  these  succeed  the 
periods  of  transition.  There  arise  hybrid  forms, 
half  man,  half  animal ;  the  Egyptian  religion 
affords  us  many  examples  of  these  forms.  The 
goddess  Isis  has  the  head  of  a  cow,  Anubis  the 
head  of  a  jackal,  Horus  the  head  of  a  sparrow- 
hawk,  Typhon  an  ass's  head,  and  so  on.  In  the 
Babylonian  religion  we  have  advanced  a  step 
farther.  Here  the  people  like  to  represent  the 
gods  as  riding  or  driving  the  animals  by  which 
they  were  once  represented.  In  many  cases, 
indeed,  the  animal  that  so  often  appears  by  the 
side  of  the  Godhead,  as  its  symbol  and  attribute, 
was  originally  the  ancient  form  which  the  God- 
head took.  The  Greek  religion  affords  many 
examples  of  this. 

It  was  long  before  man  rose  to  the  idea  of 
the  human  form  in  its  noblest  manifestation 
as  the  representative  of  the  Godhead.  The 
artistic  means  were  lacking.  In  Babylon  super- 
human colossal  figures  were  employed  to  express 


National  Religions  8i 

the  sublimity  of  the  Godhead.  One  religion 
alone  reached  the  highest  stage  :  the  Greek 
religion,  in  union  with  Art,  created  in  the  course 
of  centuries  of  labour  the  figures  of  Greek  gods — 
human  figures  such  as  had  never  walked  on 
this  earth ;  human  figures  which,  through  their 
luminous  beauty,  their  inner  nobility,  and 
their  dignified  bearing,  were  able  to  arouse 
religious  devotion.  Freed  from  all  earthly  stain, 
raised  above  earthly  sorrow,  without  flaw 
or  blemish,  magnificent  types  of  strong,  perfect 
manhood,  noblest  womanhood,  and  maidenhood, 
these  gods  stood  before  the  Greek  man  and 
woman,  who  bowed  down  before  them. 

The  significance  of  the  image  cannot  be 
highly  enough  estimated.  The  human  com- 
munity was  grouped  around  the  image.  In 
the  Old  Testament  we  are  told  that  when 
Gideon  conquered  the  Midianites  he  had  an 
image  made  from  his  share  of  the  booty,  and 
thereby  won  for  his  house  importance  and 
authority  in  Israel — for  a  few  generations  only, 
it  is  true.  When  the  people  of  Dan  journeyed 
forth  to  find  a  new  home,  they  forced  a  man 
from  the  mountains  of  Ephraim  to  go  with 
them,  as  he  had  possession  of  an  image.  A  tribe 
must  have  an  image  and  a  priest,  if  its  common 
life  is  to  be  firmly  organised.  On  the  other 
hand,    the    image    contributes    enormously    to 

7 


82  what  is  Religion  ? 

the  personal  concrete  idea  of  the  god.  When 
from  the  multitude  of  nameless,  formless, 
inconceivable,  impersonal  spirits  living,  con- 
crete, personal  forms  of  gods  appear,  it  is  to 
the  image  that  this  development  is  chiefly  due. 
V.  As  a  necessary  consequence  the  image 
requires  a  temple.  The  period  of  national 
religions  is  the  period  of  temple-worship.  For 
a  very  long  time  the  worship  of  the  Godhead 
was  not  connected  with  the  temple.  God  was 
worshipped  in  the  open  air.  The  Germans, 
who,  owing  to  lack  of  artistic  capability,  did 
not  cultivate  the  worship  of  images,  boasted 
that  they  worshipped  their  gods  in  sacred 
groves.  The  worship  on  the  hills  and  moun- 
tains described  in  the  Old  Testament  was 
widely  spread.  There  on  the  heights  the 
worshipper  felt  near  to  the  Godhead,  who  was 
thought  to  dwell  in  the  heavens.  If  there 
were  no  hills  then  artificial  ones  were  made. 
The  Teocalli  of  the  Mexicans  are  simply 
terraces,  artificially  made  hills,  on  the  top  of 
which  stands  the  altar  to  the  Godhead.  Again, 
the  so-called  Babylonian  towers  are  nothing 
but  artificial  mounds,  turreted  stone  terraces 
of  enormous  compass.  Only  where  the  image 
has  become  the  prevailing  custom  does  the 
temple  arise,  at  first  often  only  a  little 
house,  a  chapel,  perhaps  only   an  open  shrine, 


National  Religions  83 

which  originally  was  intended  for  the  reception 
of  the  image.  Thus  on  the  Babylonian 
terraces,  at  the  highest  point,  was  erected  a 
little  chapel,  a  little  tower,  as  the  abode  of  the 
god.  The  plans  of  most  of  the  great  temples 
show  very  clearly  that  they  arose  from  the 
little  room  containing  the  image  which  was 
preserved  in  nearly  all  of  them  as  the  holiest 
part.  Gradually  the  other  parts  of  the  temple 
were  developed ;  a  larger  hall  was  built  in 
front  of  that  little  room,  to  which  the  wor- 
shippers of  the  god — perhaps,  indeed,  only  the 
priests — had  entrance ;  forecourts  with  great 
contrivances  for  sacrifice  were  joined  on  and 
enclosed  the  room  of  the  sanctuary.  And  now 
the  design  for  the  temple,  as  we  see  it  in  the 
ancient  Israelitish  temple  with  its  Holiest  of 
Holies,  its  Holy  Place,  and  its  courts,  is  finished. 

VI.  A  priesthood  gathers  round  the  image  and  / 
the  temple ;  the  service  of  the  god  becomes 
more  complicated.  The  care  of  the  image,  its 
cleansing  and  decoration,  the  various  kinds  of 
sacrifice,  the  maintenance  of  order  in  the  temple, 
the  preservation  of  the  temple  buildings — 
all  these  require  much  technical  knowledge. 
Thus  the  priesthood  is  evolved.  Whilst  in 
the  earlier  stages  of  religion  leadership  may 
fall  to  anyone  who  shows  his  capacity  and  is 
able  to  evoke  the  belief  that  he  is  in  intimate 


84  What  is  Religion  ? 

intercourse  with  the  spirits,  the  priesthood 
is  not  the  business  of  every  man.  The  priest 
occupies  an  office  :  he  is  an  official.  It  is  not 
for  anyone  who  likes  to  take  upon  himself  an 
office ;  it  must  be  entrusted  to  him  by  the 
community.  Preparation  is  required  for  the 
priesthood,  capacity  won  through  long  years 
of  exertion.  The  priests  form  an  organised 
class,  but  at  the  same  time  the  priest  is 
generally  only  the  agent  of  the  community  or 
of  the  temporal  ruler  of  a  community.  It  is 
accepted  as  a  matter  of  course  that  the  com- 
munity, and  especially  the  head  of  it,  has  the 
right  of  direct  intercourse  with  the  gods ;  the 
priest  is  only  appointed  as  a  deputy  for  an 
appointed  time,  or  for  life,  because  such  an 
arrangement  facilitates  intercourse.  This  idea 
appears  still  to  have  remained  even  when  the 
right  of  being  a  priest  was  restricted  to  certain 
families.  On  the  other  hand,  the  priesthood 
easily  developed  into  a  closed  caste,  a  guild 
complete  in  itself,  which  completely  usurped 
the  right  of  intercourse  with  the  god,  and 
laid  claim  to  be  the  mediator  between  the 
Godhead  and  the  rest  of  the  people — that  is,  the 
laity.  This  happened  more  especially  where 
the  life  of  the  people  was  retrogressive  or 
stagnant.  In  Assyria  and  Babylon,  in  ancient 
Israel,  in  Greece,  and  in   Rome,  the  priests,  on 


National   Religions  85 

the  whole,  with  a  few  isolated  exceptions, 
remained  the  deputies  of  the  community,  the 
nation,  or  the  king.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Egyptian,  the  ancient  Hindoo,  the  later 
Persian,  and  the  later  Jewish  religions  show 
us  examples  of  the  contrary.  History  warns  us, 
how  a  priesthood,  especially  in  the  case  of  a 
people  who  are  no  longer  capable  of  resist- 
ance, may  absorb  everything,  like  a  sponge,  and 
deprive  them  of  all  power  of  freshness. 

VII.  The  definite  concrete  idea  of  individual 
figures  of  gods  corresponds  to  the  predominance 
of  the  myth.  What  is  a  myth?  A  narrative 
concerning  the  gods.  When  there  is  personal 
knowledge  of  a  god  stories  are  told  about  him, 
stories  of  his  deeds  and  his  sufferings,  of  his 
relation  to  his  believers.  And  thus  stories  about 
the  gods  dominate  the  imagination  of  the  wor- 
shippers. Such  myths  have  often  become  quite 
incomprehensible,  mere  fables  ;  often  they  reflect 
with  absolute  clearness  the  original  nature  of 
the  god,  sometimes  they  are  of  the  so-called 
etiological  kind.  Sometimes  they  may  explain  a 
mysterious  appellation  of  the  god,  and  why  he 
is  worshipped  precisely  at  this  spot,  and  pre- 
cisely in  this  form.  Let  us  imagine  for  a 
moment  a  Nature-myth ;  one  of  the  prettiest 
examples  takes  the  form  of  the  storm-myth. 
The  people  say,   with   simple   imagination,   the 


86  What  is  Religion  ? 

clouds  are  cows,  heavenly  cows  which  bestow 
the  life-giving  moisture  of  the  rain.  Now  it  is 
the  middle  of  summer,  and  for  weeks  together 
it  has  not  rained.  The  earth  is  thirsting  for  rain. 
Then  man  says  to  himself,  "The  cows  have 
gone  away,  where  are  they  ?  A  demon  must 
have  driven  them  away,  he  keeps  them  hidden 
in  prison.  But  the  mighty  God  can  help." 
Already  in  the  distance  on  the  horizon  lightning 
is  seen.  God  brandishes  his  weapons  to  free  the 
cows  from  the  demon.  The  dull  roar  of  the 
demon  is  heard,  but  God  conquers.  The  cows 
have  returned,  they  cover  the  heavens  in  great 
herds,  and  give  forth  the  longed  for  moisture  of 
the  rain.  This  is  a  myth.  An  example  of  a 
myth  relating  to  worship  is  the  well-known 
story  of  the  fight  of  Apollo  with  the  dragon. 
In  Delphi  the  sanctuary  of  Apollo  arose  over 
the  original  oracle-seat  of  the  prophesying 
earth-demon  Python.  The  myth  of  Delphi 
relates  how  the  radiant  God  of  Light,  Apollo, 
had  conquered  and  killed  the  evil  dragon-god, 
from  whose  snares  he  had  escaped  at  his  birth, 
and  had  erected  his  own  sanctuary  over  the 
dragon's  grave.  Thus  the  myth  puts  life  into 
the  figures  of  the  gods  and  their  worship. 

VIII.  Parallel  with  this  development  of  the 
belief  in  the  higher  gods  is  the  disappearance  of 
the  belief  in  the  lower  spirits.     The  lower  spirits 


National  Religions  87 

become  generally  demons,  who  are  feared  but 
no  longer  worshipped  (see  p.  75).  Intercourse 
with  them,  magic,  conjurations  are  regarded  as 
uncanny,  not  permissible,  and  even  as  a  crime. 
The  loftier,  stronger,  and  purer  that  the  belief 
in  the  gods  becomes,  the  more  does  this  inter- 
course with  spooks  and  spirits  tend  to  disappear, 
and  the  old  faith  in  spirits  becomes  supersti- 
tion. Especially  is  this  the  case  with  the  belief 
in  the  power  of  the  dead.  It  is  just  the  most 
energetic  and  progressive  religions  which  have 
not  preserved  this  worship  of  the  dead,  or  have 
given  little  thought  to  it.  The  conviction  arises 
that  the  dead  are  of  no  importance  to  the 
living ;  they  do  not  return,  these  dead ;  the 
shadoTvs  dwell  in  a  distant  place,  they  have 
drunk  of  Lethe  and  forgotten  ^what  goes  on  in 
the  world.  Very  rarely,  and  quite  as  an  excep- 
tion, does  any  one  return  from  the  under-TVorld. 
The  fire-burial  would  appear  to  have  been  a 
powerful  instrument  in  freeing  men  from  the 
fear  of  the  dead.  Sacrifices  are  no  longer  made 
to  the  dead,  neither  is  there  any  more  belief  in 
the  power  of  spirits.  Wherever  the  memory  of 
the  dead  is  honoured  or  their  graves  adorned, 
this  is  done  out  of  a  feeling  of  piety,  even  though 
the  majority  of  people  have  not  yet  ceased  to 
believe  in  spirits  and  to  worship  the  dead.  The 
intensity   of    this   process   of   enlightenment   is 


88  What  is  Religion  ? 

naturally  different  in  the  different  religions. 
The  Greek  religion  had  freed  itself  in  the  time 
of  Homer.  In  the  Babylonian  religion,  from 
very  ancient  times,  there  was  a  firm  belief  in 
the  ethereal  nature  of  the  dead  ;  the  under- world 
was  regarded  as  a  place  of  shadows  and  of  dust. 
In  the  prophetic  religion  of  Israel  intercourse 
with  the  dead  and  conjurations  of  the  dead  were 
considered  a  crime.  And  so  completely  was 
this  thinking  about  the  world  of  the  dead  laid 
aside,  that  for  centuries  the  Israelite  religion 
was  incapable  of  developing  higher  thoughts  of 
compensation  in  a  future  world.  In  other 
religions,  notably  in  the  Egyptian,  the  relation 
between  religion  and  the  grave  and  the  future 
life  was  held  with  great  intensity. 

IX.  By  freeing  religion  from  a  belief  in  spirits 
and  the  worship  of  the  dead  a  further  specific 
moral  advance  was  rendered  possible,  at  least 
here  and  there.  Men  no  longer  believed,  or 
believed  far  less,  in  the  influence  of  the  dead  on 
the  living  and  on  their  destiny.  On  the  contrary, 
the  belief  begins  to  spring  up  that  the  fate  of 
man  after  death  depends  on  his  own  deeds  in 
this  world.  This  advance  does  not  take  place  in 
those  religions  which,  in  their  struggle  against 
the  belief  in  spirits  and  the  worship  of  the  dead, 
have  reduced  the  dead  to  a  shadowy  and  dream- 
like existence.     But  it  is  so  in  the  other  reli- 


National   Religions  89 

gions.  Imagination  begins  to  distinguish  the 
distant  places  where  the  dead  dwell.  So  long  as 
people  thought  of  the  dead  as  being  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  grave  and  connected  Tvith 
the  body  resting  in  the  grave  such  a  classifica- 
tion could  not  take  place.  Only  when  people 
imagined  the  dead  as  gathered  together  in 
distant  places  could  the  idea  arise  that  some 
dwell  in  the  better  and  best  places,  others  in 
the  dreadful  haunts  of  pain  and  torment.  The 
imagination  of  the  Indo-Germanic  races,  the 
Greeks,  the  Teutons,  the  Persians,  the  people  of 
India,  has  specially  developed  this  idea.  With 
the  Egyptians  the  idea  of  the  future  life  is 
bound  up  in  the  grave  and  the  embalmed  corpse. 
But  even  this  shows  development.  It  must  be 
admitted  that  the  belief  that  man's  fate  after 
death  depends  on  his  own  acts  in  this  world 
cannot  be  called  really  moral  in  our  sense  of  the 
word.  In  many  instances,  in  accordance  with 
the  prevalent  ideas,  it  is  the  rich,  the  important 
and  the  powerful,  to  whom  the  better  places  in 
the  future  world  are  assigned.  The  brave 
warriors  who  fall  in  battle  are,  in  the  belief  of 
the  old  German  tribes,  carried  by  the  Walkyrie 
to  Walhalla.  The  cowardly,  the  idle,  who  die  in 
their  beds,  sink  down  into  hell.  Very  often 
the  sins  which  are  punished  in  the  future  world 
are  ceremonial  offences,  insults  to  the  Godhead. 


Ay 


»\- 


go  What  is  Religion  ? 

The  great  sinners  of  the  Greek  lower  world, 
Tantalus,  Sisyphus,  were  offenders  against  the 
Godhead.  Menelaus,  on  account  of  his  semi- 
Divine  origin,  ^vas  sent  to  the  Isles  of  the  Blessed. 
Quite  early  there  arose  in  the  Greek  religion 
the  belief,  which  later  was  to  play  a  most  im- 
portant part,  that  human  beings  could  secure 
for  themselves  a  favourable  fate  in  the  lower 
world  by  all  manner  of  rites,  curious  acts,  and 
mysterious  formulae.  Although  the  moral 
thought  is  hidden  and  covered  over  by  all  kinds 
of  veils,  yet  the  belief  that  man's  fate  in  the 
other  world  depends  upon  his  acts  in  this  one  is 
of  very  great  import.  It  will  only  be  seen  in 
its  purity  and  its  full  significance  in  the  higher 
stages  of  religious  life. 

Before  we  form  an  estimate  of  religion  based 
on  national  life,  we  will  illustrate  by  two  con- 
crete examples  what  has  just  been  said.  From 
the  large  number  of  religions  ^ve  choose  for  our 
purpose  the  Babylonian  and  the  Greek. 

It  would  appear  that  the  origin  of  human 
civilisation  is  to  be  found  in  the  Babylonian 
plain.  The  inscriptions  and  monuments  of 
this  ancient  civilised  people  permit  us  to  look 
back,  with  astonishment,  into  the  fourth  and 
even  perhaps  the  fifth  century  before  the 
Christian  era.  From  the  end  of  the  third 
century  B.C.  we  have  preserved   for  us — it   ha 


National  Religions  91 

only  lately  been  discovered  —  the  law  of 
Hammurabi,  the  founder  of  the  world-empire 
of  Babylon  (about  2250).  This  code  of  laws 
shows  a  very  high  degree  of  civilisation  and 
of  judicial  progress,  and  its  definitions  have 
aroused  the  delight  and  astonishment  of 
modern  jurists.  From  the  middle  of  the  second 
century  cuneiform  inscriptions  on  seals  which 
have  been  found  among  the  ruins  of  Tel- 
Amarna  tell  us  that  at  that  period  the  Baby- 
lonian speech,  writing,  and  civilisation  were 
the  speech  and  civilisation  of  the  whole  world. 

The  religion  of  this  ancient  civilised  people 
was  polytheism.  The  Babylonian  Pantheon, 
as  it  had  developed  at  the  time  when,  accord- 
ing to  the  Old  Testament,  Abraham  lived,  was 
carefully  graded  and  arranged.  At  the  head 
stood  the  Trinity — Anu,  the  god  of  the  high 
heavens,  Bel,  the  god  of  the  air  and  the  surface  of 
the  earth,  Ea,  the  god  of  the  sea  and  the  depth 
of  the  earth.  Belief  in  these  was  already 
beginning  to  wane  ;  a  certain  theological 
speculation  is  already  implied  in  comparing 
the  gods  in  this  fashion. 

The  life-giving,  or  it  may  be  the  life- 
destroying,  heavenly  powers  were  chiefly 
worshipped.  The  majority  of  Babylonian  gods 
were  originally  sun-gods — the  young,  victorious, 
life-giving     spring     sun,     who     dispersed     the 


92  what  is  Religion  ? 

clouds  and  the  mist.  Marduk,  the  god  of  the 
spring  sun,  was  especially  honoured,  as  was 
likewise  the  scorching,  burning  sun  Nergal, 
who  brought  death  in  his  wake,  and  was  the 
war-god  and  god  of  the  lower  world.  By  the 
side  of  the  sun-god  stood  the  moon-god,  Sin — 
which  in  earlier  times  asserted  its  superiority 
— also  the  god  of  the  storm  (Ramman).  The 
goddess  of  life,  Ishtar,  was  the  only 
important  goddess  of  the  Babylonian  Pan- 
theon. We  meet  with  her  constantly  in  a 
vague  twofold  form.  In  the  north,  in  Assyria, 
she  is  depicted  as  the  austere  virgin  goddess, 
the  fighter  and  goddess  of  battles ;  in  the 
south  the  wild  Ishtar  is  worshipped,  the 
mother  of  all  life,  the  unspeakably  evil  goddess 
from  whose  bosom  life  springs  forth,  who  brings 
abundant  fertility  and  strength  ;  she  is  the  wild 
courtesan,  infatuated  with  man,  who  revenges 
herself  spitefully  on  those  who  do  not  obey  her 
will.  She  is  honoured  by  festivals  of  the 
greatest  splendour ;  in  her  service  prostitution 
is  sanctified.  A  myth  of  profound  significance 
relates  the  story  of  her  journey  to  the  world 
of  the  dead.  Her  lover  Tammuz,  the  youthful 
god  of  spring  vegetation,  is  dead,  and  the 
goddess  hastens  after  him  to  the  lower  world. 
She  must  seek  the  spring  of  life  to  rescue  her 
beloved.     At    each  door   of  the   lower   world — , 


National  Religions  93 

there  are  seven — she  casts  off  a  garment  and 
appears  naked  before  the  powerful  queen  of 
the  lower  world,  who  keeps  her  a  prisoner. 
Then  all  life  fades  away  from  the  earth  till 
a  messenger  of  the  gods  frees  Ishtar.  The 
original  meaning  of  the  myth  is  clear.  It  is 
an  etiological  myth  of  the  year.  It  provides 
an  answer  to  the  question  why  in  winter  (and 
in  the  time  of  drought  in  summer)  all  nature 
is  dead.  The  answer  is  because  the  mother  of 
life  has  gone  away.  Why  has  she  gone  away  ? 
To  seek  her  beloved,  and  so  on.  But  new 
thoughts  are  connected  with  this  old  myth  ; 
life  springs  from  death,  there  are  gods  who  can 
call  forth  life  from  the  dead. 

The  most  sublime  figure  in  the  Babylonian 
Pantheon  is  that  of  Marduk.  Originally, 
apparently,  the  god  of  the  spring  sun,  and 
then  the  divinity  of  the  city  of  Babylon,  he 
becomes  with  the  extension  of  the  Babylonian 
rule  the  mightiest  god  of  the  Babylonian  world- 
empire.  As  ruler  of  the  Babylonian  world-empire 
he  becomes  the  ruler  of  the  world,  before  whom, 
every  year,  the  lot  of  man  is  cast  over  heaven 
and  earth.  He  is,  however,  more  than  the 
world-ruler :  he  is  also  the  world-creator.  He 
is  probably  the  first  god  whom  a  devout 
multitude  acknowledged  as  "almighty  god, 
creator  of  heaven  and  earth." 


94  What  is  Religion  ? 

We  still  possess  this  old  Babylonian  myth 
of  creation.  It  is  preserved  for  us  in  many 
scattered  fragments  of  cuneiform  inscriptions. 
This  myth  of  creation  in  its  origin  and  signifi- 
cance is  quite  clear:  it  is  an  extended  spring- 
myth.  In  the  spring  the  Babylonian  of  the 
plain  sees  the  victorious  struggle  of  the  spring 
sun  with  the  clouds,  mist,  and  rain  which 
cover  the  land  and  make  all  activity  and  trade 
impossible.  He  sees  how  the  god  with  his 
radiant  shafts  of  light  pierces  through  and 
annihilates  the  mist-monster.  The  Babylonian, 
who  was  the  first  to  sing  of  the  myth  of 
creation,  conceived  the  beginning  of  the  world 
as  the  beginning  of  the  year.  As  it  is  at  the 
beginning  of  the  new  year,  so  it  was  at  the 
beginning  of  the  world,  only  on  a  much  larger 
scale.  The  story  runs  thus  :  At  the  beginning  a 
fearful  water  demon  ruled  in  the  world  with 
his  accomplices.  No  one  could  withstand  him  ; 
trembling,  the  gods  stood  in  awe  before  him. 
Then  they  all  gathered  together  and  determined 
that  Marduk  should  be  their  ruler.  Anu,  Bel,  Ea, 
the  ancient  gods,  delivered  their  power  into  his 
hands ;  he  must  conquer  Tiamat,  the  water- 
monster.  The  god  now  arms  himself  with  a 
trident  and  a  net  in  which  he  shuts  up  the 
winds.  In  a  terrible  combat  he  overcomes  the 
monster ;  he  plunges  his  trident  into  his  mouth, 


National   Religions  95 

drives  the  winds  into  the  open  jaws,  and  the 
monster  bursts.  From  the  two  halves  of 
Tiamat's  body  which  he  has  cleft  asunder 
Marduk  creates  heaven  and  earth.  We  see 
in  this  story  clear  evidence  of  man's  observa- 
tion of  the  sun,  w^hich  disperses  the  mist  and 
the  clouds. 

It  is  in  this  way  that  the  idea  of  the  creation 
of  the  world  arose  in  the  Babylonian  religion. 
Although  it  is  the  result  of  deep  reflection, 
and  therefore  comparatively  late  in  making 
its  appearance  in  the  history  of  religion,  this 
belief  in  God  as  the  Creator  is  of  the  highest 
value.  With  special  trust  man  obeys  the  God 
from  whose  act  and  will  all  being  and  living, 
his  own  life  indeed,  are  derived.  For  he  knows 
of  a  surety  that  what  this  God  has  created 
He  will  preserve  and  protect. 

The  relation  of  man  to  the  Godhead  in  the 
Babylonian  religion  is  that  of  complete  subjec- 
tion. The  gods  are  despots  and  lords  of  bound- 
less power ;  the  basis  of  their  character  is 
power,  superhuman  power.  Their  statues  are 
colossal,  far  greater  than  those  of  men  ;  their 
servants  and  attendants  are  mighty,  enormous, 
such  as  the  colossal  figures  of  the  winged  bull 
and  the  lions,  and  of  the  winged  spirits  which 
were  placed  before  the  temple  and  the  palace 
as    guardians.     Mounds    were    raised    in    their 


96  What  is   Religion  ? 

honour,  and  the  ruins  of  these  quaint  temples 
convey  the  idea  of  hills  of  considerable  heights. 
In  silent  humility  and  subjection  man  bowed 
low  in  the  dust.  The  feeling  of  anguish,  of 
eternal   fear   of   the   gods,    is  clearly   marked. 

This  feeling  is  strikingly  expressed  in  a  whole 
series  of  literary  forms.  A  great  many  hymns 
and  songs  have  come  down  to  us,  in  which  the 
believers  acknowledge  their  sins,  and  implore 
the  god  to  show  mercy.  These  have  been 
collected  under  the  name  of  the  Babylonian 
Penitential  Psalms.  These  songs  show  very 
clearly  how  that  feeling  of  nameless  terror 
grew  out  of  the  belief  in  spirits  which  belongs 
to  a  lower  stage  of  civilisation,  out  of  the 
agonised  consciousness  that  man,  through  his 
deeds  and  his  omissions,  provokes  the  anger  of 
the  known  and  unknown  gods  which  surround 
him.  A  whole  host  of  spirits  and  gods  are 
entreated  in  these  litanies  to  show  mercy ;  the 
unknown  god  and  the  unknown  goddess  are 
not  omitted,  and  the  believer  asks  pardon 
for  his  hidden  and  unconscious  sins.  Com- 
pletely downcast,  the  believer  draws  near  to 
his  god  : 

"I,  thy  servant,  full  of  sighs,  call  upon  Thee, 
I  am  a  sinner,  whose  ardent  entreaty  Thou  wilt  accept  ; 
Like  the  doves  do  I  moan,  I  am  o'ercome  with  sighing. 
With  lamentation  and  groaning  my  spirit  is  downcast." 


National  Religions  97 

He  acknowledges  his  sins  to  the  God.  "I 
will  tell  thee  of  my  acts  which  yet  cannot 
be  told."  "Lord,  my  sins  are  many,  great  are 
my  misdeeds."  This  idea  is  specially  striking 
in  the  following  psalm : 

"  Oh,  Lord,  Thy  servant,  cast  him  not  away. 
Plunged  in  the  flood,  stretch  forth  Thy  hand. 
The    sin    which    I    have    committed,    transform    by    Thy 

grace  1 
The  ill  deeds  I  have  done,  let  the  winds  carry  away ! 

"  Eend  my  sins,  like  a  garment ! 
My  God,  my  sins  are  unto  seven  times  seven. 
Forgive  my  iniquities  I  " 

These  psalms  remind  us  in  every  way  of  the 
Old  Testament  psalms.  A  connection  between 
them  cannot  be  denied.  It  is  quite  possible 
that  the  Israelitish  psalmists  were  influenced 
by  the  Babylonian  penitential  poetry,  especi- 
ally with  regard  to  the  whole  idea  of  penance 
and  sin,  as  well  as  in  many  details.  But  a 
closer  consideration  shows  us  a  great  differ- 
ence. Only  the  very  best  of  the  Babylonian 
penance  psalms  are  equal  to  the  Old  Testa- 
ment psalms.  Only  by  such  a  comparison 
does  one  perceive  how  admirably,  and  with 
what  originality,  the  genius  of  the  religion  of 
Israel  has  made  use  of  this  rough  material 
furnished  from  a  foreign  source. 

8 


9  8  What  is   Religion  ? 

By  modern  writers  the  Babylonian  sense 
of  religion  has  been  greatly  exaggerated. 
Scholars  who,  as  a  result  of  long,  self-denying 
labour,  have  from  the  hidden  monuments  ob- 
tained some  idea  of  this  astounding  kingdom, 
and  of  the  extent  and  permanence  of  the 
Babylonian  world-civilisation  and  its  enormous 
influence  in  the  ancient  East,  are  naturally 
inclined  to  over  -  estimate  the  newly  -  found 
discoveries.  They  assign  to  the  Babylonian 
nation  such  an  important  place  in  the  develop- 
ment of  religion  that,  compared  with  it,  the 
significance  of  Israel  and  of  the  Old  Testament 
religion  seems  to  grow  pale.  They  can  bring 
forward  many  apparent  proofs  in  support  of 
this  view;  they  may  say  that  investigation 
of  the  ancient  Babylonian  religion  has  taught 
us  in  many  respects  to  recognise  the  original 
source  from  which  the  religion  of  Israel 
sprang.  The  stories  in  the  first  book  of 
Moses,  the  story  of  Creation,  of  the  Flood, 
the  story  of  the  Fall  of  the  angels,  perhaps 
(or  apparently)  the  story  of  Paradise,  although 
there  are  no  actual  proofs  here,  are  trans- 
formed versions  of  the  Babylonian  myths — 
versions  which  certainly  embody  an  entirely 
different  and  a  far  higher  religious  signifi- 
cance. The  code  of  laws  of  Hammurabi  from 
the  point  of  view  of  civil   and  legal  matters 


National  Religions  99 

shows  the  manifold  relations  between  Babylon 
and  Israel.  Regarded  in  this  way,  the  Jewish 
legislation  has  in  many  points  new  light  cast 
upon  it,  while  our  knowledge  of  Israelitish 
temples  and  temple-worship  is  increased  by 
the  excavations  of  Babylonian  temples.  The 
Sabbath  itself  may  have  come  to  Israel  from 
Babylon. 

This  may  all  be  willingly  granted,  and  yet 
the  prophetic  religion  of  Israel  remains  im- 
measurably superior.  The  Babylonian  religion 
does  not  stand  on  the  same  high  plane  as  the 
religion  of  Israel,  to  which  reference  will  be 
made  in  the  next  paragraph.  Hence  it  is 
really  impossible  to  make  a  comparison  be- 
tween the  two  religions.  What  the  religion 
of  Israel  did  borrow  from  the  Babylonian  was 
the  raw  material  which  now  received  its  con- 
summation and  form.  The  prophets  of  Israel 
are  said  to  be  the  spiritual  scholars  of  Baby- 
lon ;  this  is  the  same  as  saying  that  the 
sculptor  stands  in  a  spiritual  relation  to  the 
quarryman. 

The  Babylonian  religion  belongs  to  the  stage 
of  national  polytheism.  Whatever  traces  of 
monotheistic  belief  are  said  to  have  been 
found  are  limited  to  the  speculative  and  fruit- 
less wisdom  of  priests  or  to  the  learned  ideas 
of    modern     investigators.      It     may    be     said 


lOO  What  is  Religion  ? 

that   practically    monotheism  never  existed    in 
Babylon,   and  we   look  in   vain  for   any  traces 
of   prophetic   personalities.     The   last   King   of 
Babylon,  Nabonidus,  attempted  reform   in   the 
direction   of  monotheism.     He   had  the  sanctu- 
aries of  all  the  gods  placed  together ;  he  tried 
to     make    them    entirely    subject    to    Marduk, 
and   their  places   of   worship    offshoots   of   the 
temple   of  Marduk.     Thus   at  the  very   end   of 
this    stage    of    civilisation     we     see     how    far 
removed     man    was     from     real    monotheism. 
The    Babylonian    religion   shows   other    limita- 
tions  and   compromises.     We    do   not   refer  to 
the  fact  that  the  thought   of  the  future  world 
and    of    retribution    after    death    had  scarcely 
arisen,    for    this     limitation     it    possessed     in 
common   with  the   ancient   religion    of   Israel. 
But     the     Babylonian     polytheism    was    never 
able    to    suppress    the    belief  in  spirits,   which 
belongs    to    a    lower    civilisation,    and    in    the 
whole   chaotic  world  of  magic  and  witchcraft, 
which  belongs  to  the  lowest  stage  of  all.     The 
enormous     mass     of     literature     dealing     with 
magic  is  characteristic   of  the  religious   litera- 
ture of   Babylon.     "  They  cover  the  earth  like 
grass "  may  be  said  of  the  spirits  and  demons 
of    that    period.     Babylon     remains    for    later 
ages   a   vast  mass    of    beliefs    in    demons   and 
magic.      On     the     other    hand,     priestly     and 


National  Religions  loi 

learned  speculations  spread  over  the  Baby- 
lonian religion.  Babylon  was  the  original 
home  of  the  so-called  science  of  astrology, 
and  of  all  the  superstitious  beliefs  which  con- 
nected the  fate  of  man  with  the  stars. 

This  must  not,  however,  prevent  us  from 
recognising  the  attractive  features  of  this 
religion.  It  possessed  an  enormous  serious- 
ness, a  mighty  power.  The  ruined  mounds 
of  the  Babylonian  plain  testify  to  this.  The 
belief  in  God  stands  forth  here  in  its  vic- 
torious power ;  in  the  dust  man  bows  before 
the  God.  The  feeling  of  sin  and  the  terror 
of  sin  are  displayed  here  in  a  striking  and 
almost  profound  form. 

Let  us  now  cast  a  glance  at  the  Greek 
religion.  It  stands  indisputably  highest  among 
the  national  religions,  and  affords  the  most 
striking  example  of  a  national  life  permeated 
through  and  through  with  religion.  How  the 
life  of  religion  beats  through  the  rich,  multi- 
form body  of  Greek  civilisation,  and  how 
religion  is  everywhere  here  the  art  which 
the  national  life  expresses  in  its  most  perfect 
form ! 

To  make  this  quite  clear,  we  must  transplant 
ourselves  for  a  moment  to  Athenian  life  in 
home    and    city,    say,    in    the    middle    of    the 


I02  What  is  Religion  ? 

fifth  century,  when  religious  life,  owing  to  the 
Persian  Wars,  had  taken  a  new  step  in  advance. 
We  approach  an  important  Greek  house 
through  the  courtyard,  where  Zeus  Herkaios, 
the  protector  of  the  court,  presides.  His  altar 
stands  in  the  centre,  and  here  the  master  of 
the  house  slays  animals.  All  slaughter  of 
animals  is  a  holy  act.  Here  the  lord  renders 
justice  to  his  subordinates.  To  the  altar  the 
stranger  approaches,  and  in  the  name  of  Zeus 
Xenios,  the  protector  of  strangers,  requests  a 
hospitable  reception.  By  the  door  of  the 
house  stands  a  sacrificial  vessel  in  which  are 
placed  offerings  as  a  protection  against  the 
spectral  -  goddess  Hekate,  who  is  not  wor- 
shipped by  such  sacrifices,  but  simply  kept  at 
a  distance.  In  the  atrium  is  the  hearth 
where  the  fire  ever  burns,  where  the  goddess 
Hestia  is  the  presiding  deity.  She  greets  who- 
ever comes  into  the  house.  The  family  gathers 
round  the  hearth ;  "  the  extinction  of  the  fire 
is  the  extinction  of  the  family."  At  every 
meal  the  goddess  Hestia  is  remembered  by 
pious  offerings.  As  the  stranger  passes  out 
into  the  road  again  he  encounters  the  antique, 
hideous  statue  of  Hermes.  This  god  accom- 
panies the  wanderer  into  strange  countries ; 
he  protects  the  lord  of  the  house  in  his 
travels,    and    guides    him    safely    back    to    his 


National  Religions  103 

beloved  home.  In  the  market  -  place  Zeus 
Agoraios  is  the  ruler,  and  in  his  name 
decrees  are  made,  officials  chosen,  and  the 
lot  cast.  Apollo  and  Athene  dispose  of 
justice  on  the  Areopagus.  And  over  the 
town,  high  on  the  Acropolis,  gleam  and 
shimmer  the  dwelling-places  of  the  gods.  All 
artistic  thought  and  talent  are  employed  in 
the  service  of  the  gods ;  the  theatre  is  the 
worship  of  God,  and  a  festive  yet  solemn 
multitude,  after  the  sacrifice  has  been  offered, 
listen  to  the  solemn  sounds  of  ^schylus's  pro- 
found and  deeply  religious  wisdom.  Far  into 
the  distant  world  Athens'  ships  carry  the 
glory  of  Pallas  Athene,  and  over  the  Greek 
city  confederation  watches  Apollo,  the  god  of 
unity. 

To  complete  this  picture  we  must  call  to  mind 
the  figures  of  two  Greek  gods,  those  of  Zeus 
and  Apollo.  The  former  has  been  described  by 
the  hand  of  a  master :  "  From  Zeus  spring  day 
and  night  ;  he  scatters  the  years.  His  radiant 
eyes  are  full  of  significance  ;  he  sees  everything, 
his  eye  never  sleeps.  He  is  thus  the  searcher, 
the  all-seeing  one  ;  the  sinner  is  said  to  bring 
disgrace  to  the  sacred  eyes  of  Zeus.  The  sum- 
mits of  the  mountains  are  his  holy  places  of 
worship  ;  he  is  enthroned  on  the  illumined 
Olympian    height,   high    above   the   wreath   of 


1 04  What  is  Religion  ? 

clouds.  In  the  middle  of  each  court  his  altar 
stands  ;  house  and  farm  as  well  as  the  city-state 
are  placed  in  his  hands.  He  protects  those  who 
go  beyond  the  boundaries  of  the  fatherland 
and  seek  help  in  foreign  parts  ;  he  accompanies 
the  Tvanderer  to  his  journey's  end.  He  is  the 
supreme  saviour  and  sanctifier.  He  establishes 
marriages,  knits  and  preserves  the  bonds  of 
relationship  ;  life  and  death  are  in  his  hands, 
and  on  golden  scales  he  weighs  the  mortal 
destiny  of  the  fighters.  He  bestows  blessing 
and  riches,  he  protects  the  boundaries.  The 
kingly  power  and  its  symbol,  the  sceptre,  come 
from  him.  He  guards  and  preserves  oaths, 
from  him  spring  fidelity  and  belief,  and  where- 
ever  right  is  downtrodden  on  earth,  he  utters 
once  more  his  decrees.  .  .  .  Severely  does  he 
punish  unjust  judgments,  and  he  likewise  sees 
to  the  punishment  of  every  crime.  He  enters 
everything  in  his  mighty  account  so  that  nothing 
can  ever  be  forgotten." 

By  the  side  of  Zeus  we  may  place  Apollo. 
Let  us  imagine  ourselves  once  again  in  Athens, 
in  the  fifth  century  B.C.,  in  the  theatre.  A 
solemn  festive  crowd  is  gathered  together  ;  the 
last  part  of  the  great  trilogy  of  jEschylus,  the 
"  Eumenides,"  is  being  performed.  In  the  back- 
ground is  a  representation  of  Apollo's  temple 
at  Delphi.     The  great  doors  of  the  temple  open, 


National  Religions  105 

disclosing     in     the     centre     the     blood-stained 
matricide  Orestes,  at  the   altar  of   Apollo,  im- 
ploring protection.     Round  him  sleep  and  snort 
terrible    forms,   more    horrible   than    Gorgons 
and  harpies,  "  black  and  repulsive  to  look  upon.' 
"  Their  appearance  is  too  ghastly  for  even  gods 
much    less    men,   to    approach    their   dwelling 
Never     have    I    seen     before    such    creatures.' 
They  lie  in  wait  for  the  murderer  of  his  mother 
who    has    fallen   to   them   for   revenge.     Then 
magnificently     radiant,     the      pitying      Apollo 
approaches    the    curse-laden    stranger    with    a 
blessing  : 

"  Thee  will  I  not  betray,  to  thee  aye  true ; 
Near  to  protect,  yet  from  thee  far  removed, 
No  grace  nor  favour  ^vill  I  show  to  those 
Who  hate  thee." 


And  Apollo  tears  his  protegS  from  the  grasp 
of  the  horrible  forms,  which  utter  hoarse  curses. 
Belief  in  the  pitying,  forgiving  god,  in  Apollo, 
the  saviour  and  seer,  may  well  have  been  kindled 
to  the  highest  degree  of  fervour  in  the  heart  of 
many  an  Athenian  at  such  a  performance. 

It  is  a  rich,  many-coloured  picture  which  we 
have  sought  to  paint,  this  domain  of  national 
polytheism.  We  are  conscious  of  broken  rays 
of  a  Divine  nature  which  shine  into  the  hearts 


io6  What  is  Religion  ? 

of  men  ;  broken  rays  certainly,  but  rays  of 
Divine  majesty  and  glory,  of  Divine  goodness 
and  charity.  The  figures  of  Zeus,  Apollo, 
Athene,  Marduk,  the  Hindoo  Yaruna,  and  the 
Persian  Ahura,  whom  we  shall  meet  again 
when  we  reach  a  higher  stage  of  civilisation, 
may  stand  as  the  highest  symbols  of  human 
belief  at  this  stage  of  religious  life.  Among 
them  all  the  Greek  gods  shine  forth  as  ideals 
of  noblest  humanity.  Already  this  belief  has 
a  high  moral  power  and  significance.  A  loftier 
conception  of  human  life  clings  around  it, 
through  it  man  wins  for  himself  permanent 
human  dignity.  The  belief  in  gods  becomes 
the  foundation  of  the  life  in  common,  and 
lends  power  to  it. 

At  this  point  there  may  be  an  inclination  to 
make  various  objections ;  people  will  point  to 
the  things  which  are  low,  base,  and  morally 
repulsive  in  the  myths  and  worship  of  the 
gods,  which  are  to  be  found  everywhere,  side 
by  side  with  what  is  noble  and  splendid.  Cer- 
tainly we  must  not  overlook  these  objections. 
The  morality  which  is  unfolded  in  the  worship 
of  the  gods  is  not  in  all  points — only  indeed  in 
a  very  fe^v  points — the  highest  morality  or 
morality  at  all  in  our  sense.  The  same  may  be 
asserted  of  the  religion  of  ancient  Israel  before 
the   time   of   the   prophets.      What   a   frightful 


National  Religions  107 

morality  is  that  of  ancient  Israel  in  many  ways  ! 
Israel  compelled  by  God's  command  to  extir- 
pate and  slaughter  a  whole  conquered  people 
in  the  most  horrible  manner !  King  Saul 
rejected  because  he  would  not  slay  his  heroic 
opponent,  King  Agag,  at  the  command  of  the 
prophet !  With  what  delight  are  all  the  tricks 
of  cunning  and  deceit  by  which  Jacob  harmed 
his  people  described  in  the  Old  Testament!  It 
would  be  absolutely  unreasonable  to  try  to  set 
up  here  a  standard  of  the  highest  morality.  It 
would  be  unfair  not  to  see  that  the  barbaric 
slaughter  of  a  whole  tribe  was  a  necessity  in 
order  to  preserve  a  superior  people  in  their 
strength  and  their  peculiar  characteristics — a 
barbaric  and  horrible  necessity.  But  if  we  are 
to  set  up  this  standard  of  equitable  judgment 
with  regard  to  parts  of  the  Old  Testament,  and 
to  the  morality  and  piety  of  ancient  Israel,  we 
must  also  apply  the  same  reasonable  judgment 
to  other  nations  and  their  religions. 

We  do  not  see  here,  indeed,  our  morality,  but 
— setting  aside,  of  course,  corruptions  and 
blemishes,  the  manifold  relics  of  a  ruder  time 
and  a  ruder  faith,  as  well  as  the  signs  of  coming 
decadence — it  is  morality,  morality  progressing 
and  developing.  We  have  here  the  evolution 
of  life  in  a  community,  the  strengthening  of  the 
feeling    of   unconditional   duty  for  which  man 


io8  What  is  Religion? 

was  ready  to  stake  his  life,  ascent  from  step 
to  step. 

Let  us  consider  likewise  the  limitations  of 
these  national  religions  ;  the  divine  forms  often 
completely  disappear  in  human  life,  and  they 
lose  their  commanding  and  elevating  power  and 
significance.  Religion  and  property  become 
the  same  thing  in  the  national  life.  Religion 
begins  to  lack  the  progressive,  critical,  and 
revolutionary  elements  ;  its  powers  are  re- 
stricted, it  becomes  only  too  quickly  a  conser- 
vative power,  fixed  in  its  usages  and  customs, 
the  best  support  of  the  ruling  authorities  in 
the  life  of  the  people  and  the  states,  the  enemy 
of  all  progress,  a  tremendous  force  which 
threatens  to  divide  the  nations  absolutely  and 
profoundly  one  from  the  other. 

A  further  progress  in  the  development  of  the 
religious  life  must  now  take  place  in  which  the 
union  between  religion  and  the  nation  is  to  a 
certain  extent  shattered.  This  disruption  must 
proceed  from  the  individual ;  the  figures  of  the 
great  prophet-reformers  are  now  to  appear  on 
the  scene. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  PROPHETS   AND   THE   RELIGION    OF 
THE    PROPHETS 

ONCE  more  we  will  bring  clearly  forward 
the  condition  of  religious  life  at  the  stage 
we  have  now  reached.  Religion  is  a  concern 
of  the  nation  ;  it  is  the  centre  of  a  nation's  life. 
The  gods  belong  to  the  nation,  the  nation  to 
its  gods.  Religion  has  become  a  custom,  a 
usage,  a  tradition  ;  man  is  born  into  a  religion. 
The  religion  of  a  man  is  just  as  little  a  matter 
of  free  will  and  conviction  as  love  of  his  country- 
is.  It  is  no  question  of  belief  and  disbelief,  of 
acceptance  and  denial.  Just  as  traitors  are  put 
to  death,  so  those  who  deny  religion  are  out- 
lawed. Disbelief  in  the  gods  is  treason,  is  sin 
worthy  of  death. 

Religion,  we  say,  is  a  concern  of  the  nation ; 
only  in  a  secondary  degree  is  it  the  concern 
of  the  individual.  Attention  is  only  indirectly 
turned  towards  the  individual,  and  that  gene- 
rally when  he   is  the   leader  and  chief   of  the 

109 


no  What  is  Religion? 

community.  The  fresher  and  more  spontaneous 
the  national  life  is  the  less  important  is  the 
individual.  For  what,  indeed,  is  the  individual? 
A  wave  that  vanishes,  a  drop  in  the  bucket,  a 
shadow ;  he  would  be  completely  abandoned 
and  powerless  without  his  people.  The  indi- 
viduals, the  generations,  pass  away  into  the 
kingdom  of  the  shades,  of  the  dust,  of  hell. 
"The  dead  cannot  praise  thee,  O  Jahwe  !" 
New  generations  appear ;  they  delight  in  the 
light  and  the  air,  in  the  sun  and  the  spring,  in 
the  blessing  of  children,  and  in  riches,  in 
war,  in  victory,  and  in  peace,  and  they  wander 
far  afield.  The  individuals  vanish,  the  peoples 
remain,  the  gods  are  eternal. 

There  are  exceptions,  however;  now  and  again 
belief  in  retribution  after  death  arises,  and  here 
the  individual  plays  an  important  part,  but 
there  is  much  uncertainty  and  doubt  concern- 
ing this  belief.  There  were  all  kinds  of 
fantastic  beliefs  cherished  by  secret  sects  and 
conventicles,  intermingled  with  extraordinary 
rites  and  ceremonies.  In  the  schools  of  the 
priests  in  Egypt,  in  the  curious  Orphic  societies 
of  Greece,  this  belief  was  held,  but  it  was 
seldom  comprehended  in  its  universality.  It 
was  often  only  concerned  with  the  noble,  the 
strong,  the  important,  the  brave ;  it  acted  as 
a  threat  for  the  very  wicked,  as  a  consolation  to 


Prophets  and  their  Religion 


III 


the  adherents  of  the  sects  which  indulged  in 
extraordinary  usages  and  ceremonies.  Thus 
this  belief  was  not  the  central  point  of  the 
religion,  it  remained  on  the  circumference ;  in 
many  religions,  the  Semitic  especially,  it  hardly 
appeared  at  all.  It  played  the  most  important 
part  in  a  decaying  religion,  the  Egyptian 
religion. 

The  eye  of  the  gods  rests,  as  we  have  already 
pointed  out,  here  and  there  on  the  individual, 
on  the  distinguished,  the  strong,  the  noble.  The 
kings  of  Babylon  and  Assyria  felt  themselves 
specially  connected  with  the  Godhead ;  they  were 
the  favourites  of  the  gods,  their  representatives 
on  earth,  the  administrators  of  God's  favours. 
The  history  of  the  people  in  the  East  is  often 
simply  the  history  of  the  king.  The  Greek 
religion  has  many  stories  of  the  favourites  of 
the  gods,  of  the  heroes  who  ascend  to  Olympus, 
of  the  heroes  of  Divine  descent.  The  gods 
receive  them  personally  and  carry  them  after 
their  death  to  the  Elysian  fields.  But  these  are 
exceptions.  Even  the  powerful  and  the  great 
are  not  safe  from  the  anger  of  the  gods  ;  human 
greatness  is  the  sport  of  the  gods.  This  is  the 
fundamental  idea  of  the  classical  Greek 
tragedy. 

One  more  point  demands  notice.  National 
religions    are    all    religions    of    worship.      The 


112  What  is  Religion  ? 

religious  act  is  an  act  of  worship.  Piety  means 
honouring  the  gods  in  a  manner  sanctioned  by 
custom  and  usage.  Religion  certainly  stands  also 
related  to  morality  and  to  the  duties  of  a  national 
life.  In  war  a  man  sacrifices  himself  for  his 
fatherland  and  his  gods.  The  gods  watch  over 
public  and  private  rights ;  with  pure  heart  and 
clean  hands  must  man  draw  near  to  the  gods. 
But  still,  the  centre  of  religious  life  is  worship. 
Sins  against  the  worship  of  the  gods,  ritualistic 
and  ceremonial  sins,  are  punished  most  severely ; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  sacrifice  offered  in 
the  right  fashion  covers  a  multitude  of  sins. 
The  gods  are  easily  propitiated  by  sacrifice. 
The  Babylonian  epic  of  the  Flood  naively  tells 
how  the  terrible  Bel,  who  intended  to  destroy 
mankind,  was  propitiated  by  the  sacrifice  of 
the  surviving  heroes  of  the  Flood,  and  how  the 
gods  all  gathered  round  the  smoke  of  the 
sacrifice  like  flies  round  carrion.  And  the  first 
book  of  Moses  relates  how  the  scent  of  Noah's 
sacrifice  ascended  to  the  nostrils  of  Jehovah. 
Morality  exists  in  the  religion,  but  it  is  hidden 
in  ceremonial  observances,  entirely  entangled 
and  enchained  in  the  rites  of  worship. 

Now,  about  this  time  the  religious  life  of 
mankind  received  a  new  impulse  in  very 
different  parts  of  the  world.  We  have  come 
to  the  age  of  the  prophets.    The  date  of  the 


Prophets  and  their  Religion   113 

great  new  moral  ideas  in  religion  may  probably 
be  assigned  to  the  eighth,  seventh,  and  sixth 
centuries  B.C.  In  the  eighth  and  seventh 
centuries  B.C.  the  great  prophets  appeared  in 
Israel ;  perhaps  at  the  same  time,  perhaps 
considerably  earlier,  lived  Zarathustra,  the 
reformer  of  the  Persian  religion.  In  the 
seventh  and  sixth  centuries  B.C.  a  religious 
movement  began  in  Greece,  the  exponents  of 
which  were  the  great  tragedians,  later  Socrates, 
and  above  all  Plato.  In  the  sixth  century  B.C., 
again,  Buddha  was  doing  his  work  in  India, 
and  at  the  same  time  Confucius  probably  in 
China,  though  he  can  scarcely  be  included 
among  creative  reformers.  It  is  a  remarkable 
coincidence.  It  seems  as  if  the  tree  of  the 
religious  life  of  mankind  had  sent  forth  new 
shoots  at  the  same  time  in  different  places. 
We  will  try  to  understand  the  common  charac- 
teristics of  these  phenomena  which  stand  related 
to  each  other. 

L  The  first,  which  is  common  to  them  all,  is 
the  prominent  position  taken  by  the  individual 
as  a  dominating  power.  Single  great  per- 
sonalities in  more  or  less  sharply  defined  forms 
appear  before  us.  Here  we  see  Zarathustra  and 
his  friends.  King  Vistasp,  Zarathustra's  'wife,  his 
daughter  and  his  son-in-law,  the  King's  minister 
Jamasp ;    there    the    mighty    prophets    Elijah, 

9 


114  What  is  Religion? 

Amos,  Hosea,  Micah,  Jeremiah.  In  Greece 
there  are  the  significant  figures  of  ^schylus 
and  Sophocles,  Socrates  and  Plato ;  in  India 
Buddha  and  a  crowd  of  favourite  young  men 
who  are  specially  mentioned  by  name.  These 
are  all  concrete  figures,  clearly  recognisable 
even  through  the  dimness  of  tradition.  And 
Tvhat  figures  they  are  !  They  are  of  enormous, 
gigantic  size ;  they  still  speak  to  us  across  the 
centuries  ;  we  delight  in  them  as  the  most 
precious  inheritance  of  the  past. 

II.  Everywhere  we  find  the  same  thing.  Each 
individual  prophet  protests  against  the  judg- 
ment of  the  majority,  against  tradition,  the 
law,  custom,  popular  usage.  Nearly  all  the 
prophets  were  great,  solitary,  tragic  figures, 
dwelling  in  a  solitude  difiicult  for  the  boldest 
imagination  to  picture.  We  see  Zarathustra 
in  his  solitary  flights,  in  his  fruitless  missionary 
journeys.  On  the  heights  his  god  Ahura-Mazda 
is  revealed  to  him,  or  God's  angel  and  am- 
bassador ;  in  the  desert  the  demons  surround 
him,  despise  him,  reject  him.  Indignantly  he 
drives  them  away  with  stones  ;  only  after  thirty 
years'  hard  struggle  does  he  gain  any  result  for 
his  work.  The  life  of  Buddha,  again,  although 
the  calmest  and  most  peaceful  of  all,  was 
full  of  struggles,  whilst  Confucius  passed  a 
great  part  of  his  life  in  banishment.     Socrates 


Prophets  and  their  Religion    115 

emptied  the  cup  of  poison,  condemned  by  the 
people  as  a  despiser  of  the  gods  ;  Plato  taught  a 
few  members  of  a  society  which  had  practically 
no  influence  on  the  outside  world.  Think  also 
of  the  prophets  of  the  Old  Testament;  Elijah 
in  conflict  with  the  priests  of  Baal,  Amos 
sent  into  exile  by  the  high  priest,  Isaiah 
in  constant  opposition  to  the  weak  kings. 
Greatest  of  them  all  was  Jeremiah,  concerning 
whose  life  it  was  written :  "  To-day  I  make 
thee  a  strong  city  and  an  iron  pillar  and  a 
brazen  wall  against  the  whole  land,  the  kings 
of  Judah,  the  princes,  the  priests,  and  all  the 
people." 

There  is  a  peculiar  resemblance  among  all 
these  men;  they  will  accept  nothing  but  what 
their  own  conviction  and  their  conscience 
approve.  They  seek  to  get  at  the  heart  of 
things.  In  their  presence  deception,  triviality, 
and  nonsense  vanish.  They  do  not,  indeed, 
announce  what  is  merely  their  own  conviction  ; 
they  talk  as  the  elect  in  the  name  of  a  Power 
far  above  them  that  has  filled  them  and  con- 
strained them  to  utterance.  The  prophets  of 
Israel  speak  in  the  name  of  Jehovah  ;  the  Word 
of  Jehovah  has  been  revealed  to  them,  and 
therefore  they  must  speak.  "The  lion  roars, 
who  is  not  afraid?  Jehovah  speaks,  who  dares 
be  silent  ?  "     They  are  possessed  as  by  a  strange 


1 1 6  What  is  Religion  ? 

power ;  Jehovah's  word  has  become  theirs.      It 
is   no   strange,  incomprehensible,  oracular   say- 
ing that  they  utter  ;  it  is  their  own  conviction, 
wonderfully     given     them,     and     firmly     held. 
Zarathustra   announced    the    revelation    which 
he  asserted   he  heard  on  the  mountain-tops  in 
his    struggle    with     the     demons,    in     strange, 
mysterious   phrases,   the  form   and  contents  of 
which  are  reflected  to  a  certain  extent  in  the 
Gathas,    the    oldest    fragments    of    Persian   re- 
ligious literature.     Buddha,  under  the  holy  tree, 
passed    through   his    hour    of    deliverance   and 
then  his  hour   of  temptation   and   battle   with 
the  evil  one ;   then  he  preached   the  revelation 
that    had    come    to    him.     Socrates   and   Plato 
cannot   quite   be   classified    with   the   prophets. 
With  them  the  movement  against  conservatism 
was   mainly  intellectual ;  they  had   the  higher 
truth   which  they   revealed,  and  it  seems   they 
were  more  anxious  about  this  than  they  were 
conscious     of    themselves     as     revealers.      Yet 
Socrates,  when  he  asserted  the  legality  of  man's 
moral   thought  and  judgment,  in  opposition  to 
the   personal,    arbitrary   will   and  ideas   of   the 
sophists,    invoked   the   spirits  and  the  Godhead 
that  spoke   within   him.     Plato,  indeed,   was   a 
religious  genius  in  the  mantle  of  a  philosopher. 
He  w^as  the  god-intoxicated  seer,  who,  "  divinely 
mad,"  looked    into   the   world  of   the  invisible, 


Prophets  and  their  Religion   117 

and  spoke  with  holy  enthusiasm  of  what  he 
had  seen  there,  and  of  what  he  had  compre- 
hended in  his  inmost  soul. 

These  prophets  exercised  their  influence  by 
the  Word^  which  means,  by  the  weight  of  their 
personal  conviction.  They  resorted  to  no  other 
means,  to  no  custom,  usage,  act,  or  worship. 
They  did  not  stand  forth  as  supporters  of  any 
guild  or  any  caste.  "  I  was  no  prophet,  neither 
was  I  a  prophet's  son,"  Amos  replied  to  the 
high  priest,  and  thus  disclaimed  all  con- 
nection with  the  schools.  God  had  called  him 
from  the  plough  and  sent  him  forth  as  His 
messenger.  In  the  oldest  records  of  the 
reforms  of  Zarathustra  the  priest  plays  no 
part,  indeed  he  appears  as  the  enemy  of  the 
reformer.  Buddha  cast  aside  all  privileges  of 
the  priestly  caste  for  his  followers,  and  he 
himself  did  not  belong  to  it.  They  worked 
only  through  spiritual  means  and  the  power 
of  their  personality.  As  a  rule  they  neither 
proved  nor  disputed — the  Greeks,  of  course, 
are  an  exception ;  they  announced  their  beliefs 
with  unequalled  certainty  and  demanded  the 
subjection  of  the  will.  And  as  they  risked 
their  lives  and  their  persons,  they  demanded 
the  same  from  their  disciples.  An  extra- 
ordinary kingly  tragedy !  At  this  point  the 
word  "  belief "  or  "  conviction "  comes  into  the 


y 


1 1 8  What  is  Religion  ? 

province  of  religion,  which  from  now  appears 
based  on  personal  conviction.  It  is  rightly 
asserted,  on  the  ground  of  the  single  fact 
that  one  of  the  kings  of  Medea  of  the  seventh 
century  was  called  Phraortes  "  the  confessor," 
that  the  Zarathustrian  reform  had  taken  place 
earlier. 

III.  The  revelation  vouchsafed  to  the  prophets 
which  they  announced  Mvas  an  absolute,  decisive 
conviction  concerning  the  meaning  and  nature 
of  life,  its  deepest  foundations,  its  highest  aims. 
It  is  a  very  compact  whole,  a  definite  conviction 
which  can  be  expressed  in  a  few  sentences  ;  it  is 
no  longer  a  variegated  medley  of  custom,  usage, 
popular    traditions,    ceremonial    and    ritualistic 
demands,     ecstatic     observances,     moral     dicta. 
The  prophets  of  ancient  Egypt  announced  that 
the  God  of  Israel  was  a  God  of  absolute  justice 
and  holiness  within  the  kingdom  of  Israel  and 
without,  a  holy  God  who  was  able  to  destroy  and 
annihilate    His   own   people    for   righteousness' 
sake.      Zarathustra    announced     the    almighty 
God    of    heaven    and    earth    as    the    God    of 
human    order    and    civilisation,    the    protector 
of    all    useful    arts   of    civilisation,   the   enemy 
of   all   barbarism,   of   all   evil,  and   of  all  that 
was  unseemly.     Plato  comprehended   the  God- 
head as  the  final  highest  idea,  the  most  rational 
root  of  all  existence  which  is  seen  in  the  good, 


Prophets  and  their  Religion    119 

the  beautiful,  and  the  true.  Buddha  announced 
that  all  life  was  misery,  and  the  object  of 
all  life  was  the  release  from  misery  and  the 
passing  to  eternal  rest. 

This  ideal  of  the  prophets  was  in  its 
deepest  meaning — although  the  inference  was 
not  immediately  seen — no  longer  limited  to 
one  nation.  The  laws  of  Divine  justice  and 
holiness,  according  to  the  prophets,  were 
binding,  not  only  on  Israel,  but  universally. 
The  God  of  Holiness  exercises  His  scourge  over 
strange  nations.  To  Buddha  the  misery  of 
the  world  is  a  truth,  true  all  the  world  over, 
and  to  the  whole  world  Buddha  announces 
a  deliverance  from  misery.  That  the  wise  man 
— like  Plato  and  his  scholars — can  rise  above 
this  confused  world  of  reality  to  the  eternal 
world  of  ideas  is  true  for  Greek  and  barbarian 
alike.  To  Zarathustra  the  whole  world  is 
divided  into  the  kingdom  of  the  good  and 
the  kingdom  of  the  evil  god,  and  truly  pious 
men  may  everywhere  promote  the  good  works 
of  the  good  god. 

IV.  Thus,  on  the  above-mentioned  grounds, 
prophetical  religion  becomes  monotheistic  re-  »/ 
ligion.  On  this  soil  springs  up  belief  in  one 
God  in  heaven  and  on  earth.  To  Zarathustra 
and  his  earliest  followers  all  other  gods  but 
the     one     were     demons.       Ahura-Mazda,     the 


I20  What  is  Religion? 

radiant  heavenly  god  who  dispenses  light,  life, 
order,  is  alone  God.     Whatever  remnant  of  the 
people's   belief    in    gods    Zarathustra    kept    he 
made  strictly  suboirdinate  to  the  supreme  God. 
By  the  side  of  Ahura  divine  beings  were  only 
permitted    to     remain    as    subject    attendants, 
messengers,   emissaries,   entirely   dependent  on 
his  will,  radiations   from   his   being.     In  oppo- 
sition  to   this   view  people   may  point    to   the 
dual   element    in   the   Persian   religion,   to   the 
belief     of     Parsiism,     probably     originated    by 
Zarathustra  himself,  that  there  is  an  evil  spirit 
(Angra-Mainyu    =    Ahriman)  strongly  opposed 
to    the    good    spirit,   and    a    kingdom    of    evil 
subject  to  the  latter.     But,  in  truth,  this  dual 
element    in   no   wise   reflects   upon    the   mono- 
theistic  character   of    the   Iranian   religion;    it 
belongs  rather  to  the  region  of  reflection  and 
speculation  than  to  that  of  practical  worship. 
Religious  worship  is  not  directed   towards  the 
evil    spirit,    the   thought   of    whom    fades   into 
the   background   whence    ascend   all   the   more 
radiantly    and    clearly    love    for    the    supreme 
God    and    trust   in   Him.     For   in   the   Persian 
religion  the  good  god   is  the  creative,  the  all- 
powerful  god ;    he  alone  creates ;   the  evil  god 
can   only   imitate,    or   check,    or   destroy.     And 
the   final  victory  in  the  struggle   between   the 
two    kingdoms   even    remains    with    the    good 


Prophets  and  their  Religion   121 

god.  Dualism  in  the  Iranian  religion  must  be 
considered  in  the  same  light  as  the  belief  in 
the  devil  in  the  Christian  religion.  This  dualism 
may  injure  and  choke  monotheism,  and  this 
has  often  happened — one  recalls  the  piety  of 
the  Christian  Middle  Ages — but  it  may  also 
simply  remain  on  the  periphery  of  the  religious 
life,  and  scarcely  touch  it. 

To  Plato  and  his  immediate  followers  the 
unity  of  the  Divine  nature  is  regarded  as  an 
axiom,  although  he  may  often  employ  the 
phraseology  of  the  old  national  religion.  But 
there  is  here  absolute  variance  from  the  poly- 
theistic religion.  Plato  will  not  allow  Homer 
a  place  in  his  "State"  because  of  the  latter's 
unworthy  representation  of  God.  Later  an 
attempt  at  a  compromise  was  made  by  teaching 
that  the  gods  of  popular  belief  were  demons, 
half-human,  which  stood  mid-way  between 
the  Godhead  and  man,  and  by  manifold  false 
allegorical  interpretations  of  myths,  of  the 
arrangements  and  ceremonies  employed  in  the 
worship  of  the  popular  religion,  a  reconciliation 
was  made  with  the  belief  of  the  average  man. 
Later  Greek  philosophy  lacked  the  religious 
and  moral  power  to  reform  and  conquer  the 
polytheistic  Hellenic  belief  of  the  people.  No 
one  again  trod  the  path  of  Socrates. 

It  is   scarcely  necessary  to   demonstrate  that 


122  What  is  Religion  ? 

the  prophets  of  ancient  Israel  were  monotheistic. 
We  shall  return  to  this  later.  It  is  true  that 
it  is  only  in  the  later  prophets  that  the  mono- 
theistic belief  is  seen  in  its  complete  form. 
In  the  preaching  of  the  second  Isaiah  this 
development  is  seen  to  be  complete ;  accord- 
ing to  him  all  the  gods  of  the  strange 
nations  are  vain  imaginings  of  human  fancy, 
the  worship  of  the  gods  is  the  worship  of 
dead  images,  and  belief  in  gods  is  heathenism, 
religious  and  moral  wrong.  Jehovah  alone  is 
the  true  God,  the  almighty  Creator,  and  Israel 
His  servant,  the  herald  to  the  whole  world  of 
His  majesty. 

V.  Bound  up  with  the  conception  of  religion 
as  one  in  its  very  essence  is  its  deliverance  from 
all  outward  things  and  disturbances,  the  break- 
ing of  the  bonds  of  custom,  tradition,  worship, 
and  ceremony.  The  prophets  announce  a 
religion  of  spirit  and  of  truth.  There  is  no 
manner  of  doubt  that  Plato  and  his  disciples 
were  entirely  free  from  all  the  outward  observ- 
ances of  the  national  religion  and  the  national 
ceremonies,  although  later  the  Greek  idealistic 
philosophy  capitulated  to  the  popular  belief. 
In  the  oldest  records  of  Zarathustrian  reform 
both  sacrifice  and  the  priesthood,  as  far  as  we 
know,  played  an  insignificant  part.  Buddha 
denounced  the  sacred  Hindoo  religious  writings, 


Prophets  and  their  Religion    123 

the  Yedas,  and  all  the  complicated,  ancient 
Hindoo  ritual  of  sacrifice  which  rested  upon 
them.  And  in  doing  this  he  destroyed  the 
privileges  of  the  ruling  caste  of  the  priests. 
The  older  prophets  of  Israel  were  all,  or 
nearly  all,  opposed  to  ceremonial  and  the 
priesthood  ;  only  the  later  prophets  from  the 
time  of  Ezekiel  were  inclined  to  look  with 
favour  upon  ceremony. 

Before  concluding,  we  must  try  to  get  an 
idea  of  the  power  and  extent,  the  height  and 
the  significance,  of  the  prophetical  religion, 
by  figuring  to  ourselves  the  most  important 
phenomenon  of  this  stage  of  religious  life,  the 
ancient  Israelitish  prophetical  government  in 
its  relation  to  the  fundamental  ideas  which 
have  just  been  described. 

First  of  all  we  must  glance  at  the  condition 
of  the  religion  of  ancient  Israel  before  the 
ministry  of  the  great  prophets.  The  ancient 
Israelitish  religion  arose,  as  we  described  in 
the  first  chapter,  from  the  Semitic  tribal 
religion.  We  saw  that  in  this  old  Semitic 
religion  the  number  of  the  gods  always 
remained  limited,  and  that  very  often  a  tribe 
only  worshipped  one  god,  perhaps  under  a 
male  and  a  female  form.  The  ancient  Israelitish 
religion   was    distinguished    by     its     tenacious 


124  What  is  Religion? 

fidelity  to  the  worship  of  one  God,  Jehovah  of 
Mount  Sinai.  No  differentiation  into  male 
and  female  was  made.  It  was  apparently 
owing  to  Moses  that  when  he  welded  the 
Israelitish  tribes  into  a  nation  none  of  the 
tribal  gods  was  allowed  to  remain.  Then 
when  Israel  conquered  Canaan  no  change  of 
belief,  on  the  whole,  took  place.  The  gods  of 
Baal  belonging  to  the  conquered  tribes  were 
not  worshipped  with  Jehovah,  although  it  is 
true  that  Jehovah  was  often  worshipped  under 
the  form  and  name  of  Baal.  All  this  did  not 
happen  without  struggle  and  opposition.  King 
Ahab  attempted,  in  honour  of  his  Syrian  wife 
Jezebel,  to  introduce  the  worship  of  Baal  along- 
side the  worship  of  Jehovah.  We  see  here 
that  already  the  power  of  a  religious  pro- 
phetical personality  of  the  noblest  kind  was 
exercising  an  influence  in  the  religious  history 
of  Israel.  Elijah  fought  the  one  in  opposition 
to  the  many — for  the  one  God  of  Israel.  It 
was  at  this  time  that  it  was  written  of  Jehovah, 
"  The  name  of  Jehovah  is  jealousy.  He  is  a 
jealous  God."  The  less  important  successors  of 
Elijah  no  longer  conducted  the  struggle  with 
the  weapons  of  the  Spirit ;  by  treachery  and 
the  sword  they  extirpated  a  clan  cast  out 
for  its  strange  religious  leanings.  In  the 
south,   in    Judea,  after  the  destruction  of    the 


Prophets  and  their  Religion   125 

northern  kingdom — we  must  here  anticipate 
events  somewhat — there  was  once  again  a 
powerful,  heathen,  polytheistic  reaction  under 
the  rule  of  Manasseh ;  a  feeling  of  mistrust, 
due  to  events,  had  at  this  time  and  among 
these  people,  arisen  against  the  power  of 
Jehovah.  But  the  final  result  here  also  was 
the  triumph  of  the  pure  worship  of  Jehovah. 

Let  us  consider  the  boundaries  of  this  world 
of  ideas,  which  even  one  of  the  greatest  men  in 
the  religious  history  of  Israel  scarcely  over- 
stepped. Briefly  we  may  put  it  thus  :  What  is 
here  found  is  not  monotheism  in  our  sense  of 
the  word.  We  may  perhaps  give  it  a  new 
name,  monolatry — the  service  of  a  God.  The 
actual  worship  of  one  God  was  practised  by  this 
people,  and  the  conviction  existed  that  Israel 
and  Jehovah,  Jehovah  and  Israel,  were  indis- 
solubly  connected.  Israel  must  only  serve 
Jehovah.  Even  King  David  believed  that  the 
circle  of  Jehovah's  influence  did  not  extend 
beyond  Israel,  and  that  whoever  drove  him  out 
would  force  him  to  serve  other  gods  (1  Sam. 
xxvi.  19).  The  Old  Testament  chroniclers  relate, 
quite  naively  that  Naaman  the  Syrian,  after  he 
was  healed  by  Elijah,  took  with  him  some 
earth  from  the  Holy  Land,  in  order  to  erect 
upon  it  an  altar  to  Jehovah  in  his  own  country, 
for  Jehovah   can    only    be    worshipped  on  the 


126  what  is  Religion? 

soil  of  Palestine.  Even  in  Deuteronomy  (the 
fifth  book  of  Moses)  the  idea  is  brought  forward 
quite  simply  that  Jehovah  had  entrusted  the 
other  nations  to  the  remaining  powers  of 
heaven,  and  that  He  Himself  had  chosen  the 
children  of  Israel  alone  to  be  His  people.  The 
ever-recurring  lapses  of  Israel  into  polytheism, 
of  which  history  informs  us,  will  only  be 
psychologically  understood  when  we  consider 
that  no  real  monotheistic  belief  existed  in  the 
people,  and  that  Jehovah  counted  as  one  God 
among  others,  although  He  was  the  mightiest, 
and,  for  Israel,  alone  of  importance.  The  bond 
between  Jehovah  and  His  people  was  a  per- 
fectly natural  one  ;  it  was  a  necessity  of  His 
nature  for  Jehovah  to  love  His  people.  He 
could,  indeed,  do  no  otherwise  ;  if  He  were  to, 
He  would  not  be  Himself.  And  it  is  perfectly 
natural  that  Israel  should  worship  the  Lord 
and  Owner  of  the  land,  and  should  reward 
Him  with  generous  sacrifices  for  the  rich  gifts 
of  His  favour  and  goodness. 

It  is  true  there  are  grounds  for  regarding 
the  belief  in  Jehovah  as  entirely  spiritual. 
Jehovah  was  never  worshipped  as  the  actual 
Father  of  Israel ;  the  idea  rather  was  that 
He  had  chosen  the  people.  The  relation  be- 
tween Him  and  Israel  rested  on  a  union.  By 
many   personal    acts    which    have    become   his- 


Prophets  and  their  Religion    127 

torical  He  had  bound  the  people  to  Him ; 
He  had  delivered  them  from  Egypt  and  had 
led  them  through  the  desert.  His  power  is 
not  completely  confined  to  the  land  of  Israel ; 
His  own  dwelling  is  Mount  Sinai,  and  there 
He  appears.  He  is  a  God  who  works  wonders 
at  a  distance.  Above  everything  else  a  strong 
moral  impulse  directs  the  religion  of  Israel. 
Jehovah  is  the  God  of  righteousness,  who  re- 
wards the  just  and  punishes  the  unjust.  But 
these  spiritual  elements  in  the  religion  of  Israel 
are  still  only  latent  ;  the  natural  elements 
outweigh  them. 

Such  was  the  belief  of  ancient  Israel.  Grad- 
ually the  times  changed ;  Israel  no  longer 
remained  the  victorious,  conquering  nation 
which  stood  out  against  its  neighbours  in  strong 
superiority,  or  at  least  with  equal  power.  From 
the  north-east  a  terrible  storm-cloud  was 
gathering  for  Israel.  A  great  world-empire,  the 
Assyrian  empire,  which  was  then  striving  for  the 
mastery  of  the  world,  was  extending  its  power 
farther  towards  the  west  and  the  south.  Power- 
less, the  people  fell  before  its  destroying 
power,  which  like  a  whirlpool  drew  every- 
thing towards  it.  Threateningly  this  weather- 
cloud  hovered  on  the  horizon  of  Israel.  Now  and 
again  it  appeared  to  pass  away,  but  it  really 
always  stayed   in   the  sky,  announcing  misfor- 


128  What  is  Religion  ? 

tune  and  filling  the  minds  of  men  with  name- 
less dread.  What  was  the  attitude  of  Israel 
at  that  time  ?  The  majority  wandered  light- 
heartedly  on  the  edge  of  the  abyss.  It  was  a 
period  of  apparent  splendour  and  happiness, 
of  a  high  standard  of  civilisation.  Luxury 
and  vice  reigned ;  the  crowd  kept  their  joyous 
festivals  with  the  maddest  of  jollities.  The 
rich  oppressed  the  poor,  the  poor  grumbled 
under  the  oppression  of  the  rich.  The  Court 
of  the  king  was  magnificent,  armies  of  soldiers 
protected  him.  It  was  all  as  it  had  ever  been. 
The  superior  and  more  lofty  patriots  may 
have  gazed  earnestly  into  the  future.  But  the 
people  all  lived  in  unshaken,  natural  confidence 
in  Jehovah  ;  He  could  not  desert  His  people, 
for  then  He  would  be  denying  Himself. 

If  no  other  spiritual  strength  had  existed 
in  the  people,  the  religion  of  Israel  would 
probably  have  vanished  without  a  trace  amid 
the  confusions  of  the  nations.  Assyria  would 
have  conquered  North  Israel,  Babylon,  a  cen- 
tury and  a  half  later.  South  Israel,  as  dozens 
of  other  tribes  were  conquered,  of  which  we 
now  know  nothing  except  the  names.  But 
there  were  higher  powers  at  work  in  the 
religious  history  of  Israel.  The  great  figures 
of  the  prophets  stand  forth ;  and  without 
these  the    religion   of   Israel   would   not   have 


Prophets  and  their  Religion    129 

been  equal  to  the  forthcoming  events ;  the 
prophets  placed  the  people's  belief  on  a  new 
and  higher  basis.  They  preached  something 
which  was  at  that  time  absolutely  unheard  of 
and  unexpected.  They  revealed  a  God  who 
would  destroy  His  people.  With  their  clear  eyes 
they  saw  the  truth  more  and  more  clearly. 
They  saw  the  inevitable  downfall  of  Israel 
threatened  by  Assyria  on  the  north,  and  later, 
by  Babylon  on  the  south.  But  this  was  in  no 
sense  a  religious  conception.  As  far  as  the 
history  of  religion  is  concerned  the  important 
work  that  they  did  was  to  hold  fast  to  the 
belief  in  Jehovah.  They  accomplished  a  bold 
reversal  of  all  the  standards  of  worth.  They 
did  not  see  in  the  world-empires  of  Assyria  and 
Babylon  a  blind,  powerful  fate  or  the  power  of 
strange  gods  working  which  destroyed  Israel, 
its  God,  its  belief.  They  pronounced  boldly  that 
it  was  Jehovah  Himself  who  had  destroyed  His 
people,  and  that  the  strange  kingdom  was  a 
scourge  in  His  hand.  Here  we  meet  with  in 
religion  absolute  conviction  in  face  of  apparent 
contradiction.  These  men  were  confronted  with 
an  abyss  :  "  a  God  who  destroys  His  own 
people."  Yet  they  threw  themselves  into  the 
abyss,  saying,  "This  terrible  God  is  our  God." 
Among  the  people  they  stand  terribly  isolated. 
Let  us    look   more    closely   into    the    position. 

10 


130         What  is  Religion? 

In  the  midst  of  a  wild  festival  of  joy  Amos 
stepped  forward  with  his  death-lament.  To 
him  the  ruin  had  already  appeared  :  "The 
virgin  of  Israel  is  fallen ;  she  shall  no  more 
rise ;  she  is  cast  down  upon  her  land,  there 
is  none  to  raise  her  up." 

The  people  regarded  him  with  astonishment 
as  a  madman,  and  the  high  priest,  Amaziah, 
drove  him  forth :  "  O  thou  seer,  go  flee  thee 
away  into  the  land  of  Judah — but  prophesy 
not  again  any  more  at  Beth-el,  for  it  is  the 
King's  sanctuary,  and  it  is  a  royal  house." 

Again,  let  us  think  of  the  terrible  solitude 
of  Jeremiah;  his  relatives,  his  friends,  revile 
him  as  a  madman.  In  his  native  town  of 
Anathoth  he  dare  not  be  seen,  for  the  people 
threaten  to  kill  him.  He  is  thrown  into  prison, 
into  a  damp,  gloomy  hole.  All  point  their 
finger  at  him  :  "  Behold  the  traitor ! " 

The  prophets  ever  remained  true  to  their 
convictions,  for  they  knew  what  they  had 
revealed ;  they  had  not  invented  it.  It  had 
taken  possession  of  them,  the  certainty  had 
seized  them  from  on  high.  They  must  speak. 
"  And  if  I  say  I  will  not  make  mention  of  him 
.  .  .  then  there  is  in  my  heart  as  it  were  a  burn- 
ing fire."  They  defy  the  whole  body  of  the 
people  and  their  convictions  based  on  custom 
and   tradition.      They   stand   as  great,  eternal, 


Prophets  and  their   Religion   131 

shining  examples  for  all  those  who,  in  the  hard 
struggle  with  the  sluggishness  and  the  foolish- 
ness of  the  majority,  follow  their  own  higher, 
God-given  conviction.  "  They  shall  return  unto 
thee,  but  thou  shalt  not  return  unto  them." 

For  it  was  in  truth  a  higher  belief  that  they 
represented,  and  it  was  through  this  belief  that 
the  natural  relation  between  God  and  His 
people  was  shattered.  Religion  shatters  the 
fetters  of  the  nations.  The  God  of  the  prophets 
is  no  longer  a  God  of  the  one  nation  or  the 
one  land.  He  is  the  God  who  is  able  to  destroy 
His  people,  and  endures  for  ever  in  His  majesty 
and  glory.  His  rule  is  world-wide ;  the  strange 
nations,  even  the  mightiest,  are  all  in  His 
power,  they  are  scourges  in  His  hands.  The 
day  of  judgment  will  come  for  proud  Assyria, 
for  Babylon,  the  ruler  of  the  world.  He  is  the 
ruler  of  the  whole  world.  He  has  created  this 
world.  His  is  the  earth  and  what  lives  thereon, 
and  the  nations  are  to  Him  as  a  drop  in  the 
bucket. 

Thus  the  natural  relation  between  God  and 
His  people  is  destroyed,  and  its  place  is  taken 
by  a  spiritual  bond.  We  have  already  seen  how 
in  ancient  Israel  the  thought  existed  that  the 
relation  between  God  and  His  people  did  not 
rest  on  an  entirely  natural  necessity,  but  on 
the    free,    personal    choice    of    God,    who    had 


132         What  is  Religion  ? 

called  His  people  out  of  Egypt  and  had  formed 
a  union  with  them.  This  idea  was  now  seriously- 
accepted.  The  relation  between  the  God  of 
Israel  and  His  people  was  a  purely  moral 
one ;  He  is  a  God  of  righteousness  ;  He  desires 
right  and  justice  to  flow  from  His  people 
as  from  a  stream.  Because  that  is  not  so  He 
rejects  His  people — perhaps  to  the  very  end. 
We  read,  "  Ye  shall  be  holy :  for  I  the  Lord  thy 
God  am  holy."  "Holy,  holy,  holy  is  the  Lord 
of  Hosts,  all  the  world  is  full  of  His  majesty." 
God  will  not  commune  with  His  people  by 
means  of  customary  rites  and  usages.  Outward 
observances  will  wrest  no  favours  from  Him. 
He  who  desires  to  serve  Him  must  serve  Him 
with  his  conscience,  with  an  obedient  will,  with 
his  whole  life  ;  he  must  serve  Him  with  his 
whole  heart  and  soul  and  being.  The  prophets 
have  always  been  powerful  opponents  of  cere- 
monial worship,  not  merely  degraded  forms  of 
it,  but  any  forms.  All  the  great  prophets — 
Amos,  Hosea,  Micah,  Isaiah,  at  any  rate  at  the 
beginning,  Jeremiah,  the  second  Isaiah — were 
in  conflict  with  ceremonial  worship.  Only  the 
later  prophets,  from  the  time  of  Ezekiel,  showed 
any  favour  towards  it.  Jehovah,  they  an- 
nounced, took  no  pleasure  in  bloody  sacrifice 
and  burnt  sacrifice,  in  feasts,  and  new  moons, 
and  Sabbath  solemnities.     He  had  commanded 


Prophets   and  their  Religion    133 

none  of  these  things  from  the  fathers  in  the 
desert.  His  favour  is  not  confined  to  worship 
in  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem.  "  Trust  ye  not 
in  lying  words,  saying,  The  Temple  of  the  Lord, 
the  Temple  of  the  Lord  are  these.  For  if  ye 
thoroughly  amend  your  ways  and  your  doings ; 
if  ye  thoroughly  execute  judgments  between 
a  man  and  his  neighbour  ;  if  ye  oppress  not 
the  stranger,  the  fatherless,  the  widow,  and 
shed  not  innocent  blood  in  this  place,  neither 
walk  after  other  gods  to  your  own  hurt :  then 
will  I  cause  you  to  dwell  in  this  place,  in  the 
land  that  I  gave  to  your  fathers." 

The  preaching  of  the  prophets  ends  with  a 
great  note  of  interrogation.  They  saw  before 
them,  to  the  bitter  end,  darkness  and  annihila- 
tion. Yet  side  by  side,  very  faintly,  hopeful 
thoughts  arise ;  perhaps,  who  could  tell,  the 
miraculous  might  happen  !  If  only  a  remnant 
of  Israel  repented  its  evil  ways,  perhaps  Jehovah 
would  incline  His  heart,  and  would  pardon  the 
exiled  adulterous  Israel.  Then  perhaps  the  new 
age  would  dawn,  the  age  of  the  New  Covenant, 
when  Jehovah  would  remove  from  His  people 
their  stony  heart,  and  give  them  a  warm  heart 
instead.  More  and  more  emphatically  was  this 
note  struck.  And  when  Israel  and  Judea  lay 
in  the  dust,  the  prophets,  on  the  wings  of  the 
Spirit,   hastened   to   foretell    the  future ;    they 


134         What  is  Religion? 

announced  freedom  and  redemption.  In  full 
accord  now  they  sang : 

"  Comfort  ye,  comfort  ye  my  people,  saith 
your  God.  Speak  ye  comfortably  to  Jerusalem, 
and  cry  unto  her,  that  her  warfare  is  accom- 
plished, that  her  iniquity  is  pardoned.  .  .  .  The 
voice  of  one  that  crieth,  Prepare  ye  in  the 
wilderness  the  way  of  the  Lord,  make  straight 
in  the  desert  a  high  way  for  our  God.  Every 
valley  shall  be  exalted,  and  every  mountain 
and  hill  shall  be  made  low:  and  the  crooked 
shall  be  made  straight,  and  the  rough  places 
plain:  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  be 
revealed." 

Thus  the  figures  of  the  prophets  of  ancient 
Israel  stand  before  us ;  solitary,  mysterious, 
tragic  figures  towering  high  above  us.  The 
greatest  among  them  could  see  in  the  future 
only  darkness,  sin,  and  ruin ;  the  later  ones, 
who  were  once  more  filled  with  hope,  did  not 
see  its  fruition.  It  was  better  for  them  that 
they  did  not  see  it,  for  they  would  have  been 
bitterly  disappointed.  For  whenever  their 
preaching  was  successful,  whenever  their  spirit 
touched  the  spirit  of  the  people  it  was,  one 
might  say,  no  longer  their  spirit.  All  was 
again  petrified  into  formulae,  and  so  much  dust 
and  corruption  hung  around  the  glorious  revela- 
tion   that    it    was    scarcely    to    be    recognised 


Prophets  and  their  Religion   135 

again.  This  was  the  greatest  tragedy  of  their 
life  and  work. 

And  yet,  it  must  be  allowed,  many  of  them 
attained  their  object.  They  saved  the  religion 
of  their  people,  they  gave  it  a  new  foundation, 
so  that  it  became  strong  enough  to  survive  the 
passing  away  of  the  particular  form  of  national 
life  in  which  the  faith  had  originated. 

For  us  the  prophets  stand  as  shining  summits  ; 
round  about  them  night  and  darkness  cover 
the  valleys  and  the  hills.  But  over  there  glitters 
the  light  of  day,  the  golden  beams  of  the  sun 
flame  forth.  It  will  be  a  long  time  before  the 
sun,  bringing  light  and  life,  will  penetrate  into 
the  valleys  and  ravines  ;  but  nevertheless  the 
time  will  come.  Already  the  light  from  on  high 
has  shone  upon  us. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  RELIGIONS    OF    THE    LAW — JUDAISM, 
ZOROASTRIANISM,   ISLAMISM 

MANY  of  the  religions  which  have  just 
been  considered  did  not  remain  at  the 
height  which  they  reached  in  the  age  of  the 
prophets.  In  the  history  of  religion  the  valleys 
succeed  the  heights.  The  prophetical  ideals 
became  the  common  property  of  a  wider  circle, 
but  the  victory  of  the  idea,  its  apprehension 
and  acceptance  by  the  people,  becomes  fatal 
to  its  purity.  And  yet  a  very  great  progress 
was  made,  which  must  not  be  misinterpreted 
nor  undervalued.  Although  the  ideals  of  the 
prophets  no  longer  remained  in  their  absolute 
purity,  yet  they  exercised  an  ever-widening 
influence.  For  even  in  all  their  backslidings 
and  corruptions  and  dealings  with  strange  gods 
it  was  still  the  prophetic  ideals  which  exercised 
great  influence. 
Now  at  this  time  there  arose  in  the  religious 

136 


The  Religions  of  the  Law    137 

life  of  men  transition  forms,  hybrid  and  contra- 
dictory forms  :  religions  which,  on  the  one 
hand,  show  a  decidedly  universal  tendency,  and 
yet,  on  the  other  hand,  are  strictly  linked  to  the 
nation  ;  monotheism,  but  with  many  polytheistic 
elements  ;  religions  Tvhich  have  advanced  beyond 
the  stage  of  ceremonial  worship  and  yet  give 
plenty  of  scope  for  such  worship  ;  a  piety  which 
shows  a  tendency  towards  the  worship  of  God 
in  spirit  and  in  truth,  and  yet  is  more  and  more 
deeply  steeped  in  outward  ceremonials  and  tradi- 
tions, in  customs  and  usages.  These  religions 
are  often  described  as  the  religions  of  the  law ; 
it  would  be  more  suitable  to  describe  them  as 
religions  of  observance.  For  custom  and 
religious  ceremony  play  the  central  part  in 
them. 

In  studying  the  phenomena  appertaining  to 
these  religions  we  must  first  of  all  deal  with 
Judaism — that  is,  with  the  Jewish  religion  of 
post-prophetical  times,  as  it  shaped  itself  in  the 
time  of  the  Babylonian  exile  and  after  ;  and  above 
all,  with  that  form  of  Judaism  as  it  appeared 
in  the  century  before  Christ  and  in  the  time  of 
the  New  Testament.  The  literature  to  be  con- 
sidered is  found  partly  in  the  Old  Testament, 
especially  in  the  later  parts  of  the  five  books 
of  Moses,  in  the  so-called  code  of  laws  of  the 
priests  to  be  found  in  Exodus,   Leviticus,   and 


138         What  is  Religion  ? 

Numbers,  further  in  a  large  number  of  the 
Psalms,  although  these  display  a  broader  piety 
and  an  earlier  spirit.  Lastly,  there  are  a  con- 
siderable number  of  later  Jewish  writings 
known  by  the  name  of  the  Apocrypha  and  the 
pseudo-epigraphs.  These  include  the  really 
valuable  literature  of  the  Apocalypse,  which 
begins  with  the  Old  Testament  book  of  Daniel, 
and  to  which,  in  accordance  with  its  funda- 
mental character,  the  New  Testament  revelation 
of  St.  John  belongs. 

Secondly  we  must  study  the  Persian  religion 
after  Zarathustra,  to  which  period  the  greater 
part  of  the  Persian  religious  book,  the  Avesta, 
belongs.  Only  perhaps  in  one  chapter  of  the 
book  of  Yasna  which  contains  the  "  Gathas  "  do 
we  go  back  directly  to  the  older  reform  period. 
Another  part,  the  Yasht,  contains  songs,  which 
perhaps  reflect  the  pre-Zarathustrian  period  of 
polytheism,  which  later  was  again  to  be  prac- 
tised. The  rest  of  the  Avesta  belongs  to  the 
period  with  which  we  are  now  dealing.  The 
Persian  book  of  the  law,  the  Vendidad,  is 
an  historical  religious  pendant  to  the  Mosaic 
Pentateuch. 

The  Iranian  religion  has  had  a  varied  history. 
In  the  time  of  the  rise  of  the  Persian  world- 
dominion  it  spread  west  and  north  into  the 
Babylonian    plain,    to     Armenia,     Cappadocia, 


The  Religions  of  the  Law   139 

Pontus,  Cilicia.  Alexander  the  Great  destroyed 
the  Persian  empire  but  not  the  Persian  religion. 
At  the  end  of  the  third  century  B.C.  the  Persian 
nation  had  risen  to  a  new  independence  under 
the  rule  of  the  Arsacidae,  and  in  the  third  cen- 
tury A.D.,  under  the  Sarsanians,  the  orthodox 
Persian  State  and  the  orthodox  Persian  Church 
began.  It  was  only  then  that  the  religious 
books  of  the  Avesta  were  collected  and  edited. 

Thirdly,  we  can  only  partly  include  here  the 
religion  of  the  Greek  cultured  people — based  on 
Plato — from  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great  to 
the  fall  of  Hellenic  civilisation.  This  religion, 
indeed,  does  not  really  belong  here  at  all,  and 
its  true  nature  will  be  considered  in  the  next 
chapter.  Yet  there  is  a  formal  relation,  for  we 
can  trace  here  a  compromise  between  a  higher 
spiritual  religion  and  a  religion  of  the  people. 

Fourthly,  we  must  consider  the  religion  of  a 
far  later  time,  Islamism — the  reform  of  Mo- 
hammed. On  the  whole,  this  religion  must  be 
regarded  as  one  of  retrogression,  a  religion  of 
the  law  and  of  observance.  Mohammed,  a  very 
complex  personality,  concerning  whom  it  is  very 
difficult  to  come  to  any  definite  opinion,  was,  in 
any  case,  not  an  original  religious  genius  of  the 
first  rank.  His  life's  work  was  eminently 
political,  the  union  of  the  Arab  tribes  into  a 
nation  on  a  common  religious  basis,  with  the 


140         what  is   Religion  ? 

repudiation  of  the  law  of  blood-revenge  and 
blood-feud.  This  religion  is  based  upon  much 
that  was  contained  in  Judaism  and  Christianity, 
and  to  Mahomet  both  these  religions  appeared 
to  have  much  that  was  corrupt.  The  prophetic 
self -consciousness  which  Mohammed  apparently 
possessed  was  no  self-deception.  The  prophetic 
gift  and  significance  were  preserved  in  him  in 
their  grand  simplicity  ;  out  of  the  wild,  fantastic, 
half-corrupt  religious  ideas  he  created  for  his 
half-barbaric  Bedouin  tribes  a  religious  concep- 
tion suitable  to  their  stage  of  civilisation,  by 
casting  on  one  side  a  large  number  of  unsuitable 
ideas.  Yet  this  religious  conception  marks  a 
retrograde  step  if  we  compare  it  with  the  reli- 
gious ideas  of  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament. 

In  conclusion,  we  must  call  attention  to  the 
fact  that  much  of  what  Tvill  be  brought  forward 
as  characteristic  of  the  religions  of  the  law  may 
be  applied  to  certain  branches  of  the  Christian 
Church,  the  Greek  -  Catholic  and  the  Roman 
Church  bearing  marks  of  the  legal,  ceremonial, 
and  particularistic  nature  of  the  worship,  and 
even  the  Evangelical  churches  cannot  be  said 
to  be  entirely  free  from  this. 

With  these  preliminary  remarks  we  shall  now 
endeavour  to  state  clearly  the  peculiar  charac- 
teristics of  the  religions  of  the  law  in  their  most 
important  aspects. 


The  Religions  of  the  Law   141 

I.  The  prophets  were  the  promulgators  of 
monotheism,  and  this — chief  at  least  among, 
perhaps,  other  causes — gave  to  their  preaching 
a  universality  hitherto  lacking.  They  announced 
a  God  whose  power  was  not  limited  to  a  people, 
an  ideal  of  life  which  could  hold  good  for  all. 
In  both  respects,  however,  the  religions  con- 
nected with  the  prophets  were  not  able  to 
keep  to  this  high  level. 

The  old  prophets  of  Israel  had  announced 
that  Jehovah  would  annihilate  His  people,  and 
would  destroy  the  union  between  religion  and 
nation.  The  later  prophets  firmly  believed  in 
a  God  whose  people  were  at  the  lowest  ebb, 
but  they  announced  the  restoration  of  these 
people.  One  of  the  greatest  among  them,  the 
second  Isaiah,  made  deductions  of  the  widest 
import :  there  was  only  one  God,  and  all  nations 
were  to  serve  Him.  But  Israel  is  the  servant 
of  the  Lord,  who  will  lead  the  nations  to 
acknowledge  God.  Its  sufferings  are  the 
punishment  which  the  just  suffer  for  the  benefit 
of  the  unjust. 

When,  however,  after  the  Exile,  an  inde- 
pendent little  nation  arose  in  Jerusalem  the 
peculiar  universality  preached  by  the  prophets 
was  lost.  Israel  itself  remained  inalienably 
monotheistic ;  but  the  Jews  comforted  them- 
selves  with  the  idea    that  the   one    Almighty 


142         What  is  Religion  ? 

God  had  chosen  this  one  nation  only,  and  was 
only  directing  the  whole  world  for  the  sake 
of  and  for  the  benefit  of  this  one  nation — an 
inconceivable  contradiction,  of  course.  The  idea 
that  was  quite  natural  in  a  national  religion, 
that  God  belongs  to  His  nation,  and  the  nation 
to  its  God,  becomes  now  naked  egoism  and 
mere  narrow-mindedness.  In  this  way  Jewish 
sectarianism  arose. 

The  Jewish  religion  went  through  a  further 
period  of  development,  and  from  the  second 
century  B.C.  (perhaps  even  from  the  third)  it 
experienced  an  enormous  expansion.  Judaism 
overflowed  its  boundaries ;  it  extended  to 
Babylon,  Egypt,  and  North  Africa,  to  Syria 
and  Asia  Minor,  and  even  as  far  as  Greece 
and  Rome,  and  then  towards  the  West.  There 
arose  on  all  sides,  especially  in  the  larger 
towns,  the  Jewish  communities  of  the  Dis- 
persion. Statistics — not  of  a  very  reliable 
nature,  it  is  true — have  been  brought  forward 
showing  that  every  seventh  or  eighth  man  in 
the  Roman  Empire  was  a  Jew.  This  Judaism 
now  began  a  world  propaganda,  with  great 
results.  Caesar  and  the  great  Emperor 
Augustus,  as  well  as  the  latter's  friend, 
Agrippa,  were  special  patrons  of  Judaism,  and 
later  still,  in  the  time  of  Nero,  the  supporters 
of  the  synagogue  exercised   great  influence  on 


The  Religions  of  the  Law   143 

the  Roman  Imperial  Court.  Judaism  was  wise 
enough  to  know  how  to  make  use  of  circum- 
stances ;  as  we  know  from  the  Gospels,  it 
gathered  around  the  Jewish  synagogues  of  the 
separate  towns  a  circle  of  religious-minded 
pagans.  Here  we  have  the  earliest  appear- 
ance of  a  great  world-mission,  the  progress  of 
which  we  can  trace,  though,  it  must  be  at 
once  said,  it  was  not  the  only  one.  At  the 
very  same  time  the  various  religions  in  the 
Greek-Roman  Empire  were  striving  after 
universality.  Generally  speaking,  the  religions 
which  spread  from  the  East  to  the  West 
had  all  a  monotheistic  tendency,  or  at  least 
a  tendency  towards  a  simplification  of  the 
complicated  world  of  gods ;  they  overstepped 
the  boundaries  of  nations,  and  welcomed 
every  one  without  regard  to  rank  and 
nationality.  The  time  was  ripe  for  universal 
monotheism,  and  Judaism  was,  for  the  time 
being,  the  most  important  among  these  parallel 
phenomena. 

But  even  this  phenomenon  of  the  Jewish 
world-Church  and  world-mission  had  its  clearly 
marked  boundaries  and  limitations,  and,  in- 
deed, in  spite  of  its  world-wide  expansion  the 
Jewish  religion  remained  the  religion  of  a 
nation.  Whoever  at  that  time  was  entirely 
converted  to  Judaism   changed   not  merely  his 


144        What  is  Religion  ? 

religion,  but  his  nationality.  He  ceased  to 
be  a  Greek  or  a  Roman,  and  became  a  Jew. 
Hence  the  hatred  with  which  the  populace, 
as  well  as  the  highly  educated,  the  leaders  in 
literature,  made  war  upon  Judaism  as  early 
as  the  first  century  B.C.  It  was  not  the 
religion  that  was  attacked,  but  the  race,  the 
nation.  A  literary  opponent  of  Judaism,  no 
less  a  person  than  the  historian  Tacitus,  has 
stated  his  view :  "  They  arouse  the  hatred  of 
all;  they  will  not  mingle  at  bed  or  board,  they 
abstain  from  mixed  marriages.  Those  who 
are  converted  to  their  religion  adopt  the  same 
customs,  and  they  are  taught  above  every- 
thing else  to  reject  the  gods,  to  abandon 
their  fatherland,  to  despise  their  children 
and  mothers."  And  yet  to  the  Jews  them- 
selves those  God-fearing  worshippers  at  the 
synagogue  who  only  accepted  the  Jewish 
belief  and  the  Jewish  morality  (and  not  the 
ceremonial  laws)  were  regarded  as  pious  men 
of  the  second  rank  only.  There  is  a  great 
difference  between  the  kernel  and  the  outside 
leaf,  between  the  born  Jew  and  the  proselyte. 
Still,  this  period  marks  the  nearest  approach 
of  Judaism  to  universalism.  Already,  by  the 
end  of  the  first  century  A.D.,  after  the  Romans 
had  destroyed  the  Jewish  nation,  after  there 
had  arisen  the   Christian  propaganda  side  by 


The  Religions  of  the  Law   145 

side  with  the  Jewish  one,  which  it  was  begin- 
ning to  surpass,  Judaism  was  thrown  back 
upon  itself,  and  it  has  remained  until  the 
present  day  a  religious  community  limited  to 
one  people. 

Very  similar,  yet  not  precisely  of  the  same 
kind,  w^as  the  historical  progress  of  the  Per- 
sian religion.  Briefly  it  may  be  said  that,  in 
the  long  run,  it  remained,  in  spite  of  the 
germ  of  universality  which  it  contained,  linked 
with  one  nation  only,  and  here  the  retro- 
gression was  even  more  strongly  marked. 
For  although  the  religion  of  Zarathustra  had 
been  originally  monotheistic,  into  the  later 
Persian  religion  the  variegated  polytheistic 
national  belief  had  again  found  its  way.  A 
permanent  part  of  the  Avesta  is  the  Yasht, 
the  hymns  to  the  various  Iranian  gods.  The 
old  gods  of  the  people  once  more  win  or 
maintain  an  independent  existence  by  the 
side  of  Ahura-Mazda.  The  highest  god  of  a 
side  branch  of  the  Persian  religion,  which  was 
superior  to  it  in  importance  for  centuries,  was 
not  Ahura-Mazda,  but  the  old  Arian  god, 
Mithras,  common  to  both  the  Persians  and 
the  Hindoos. 

Yet  in  many  periods  of  its  history  the 
Persian  religion  evolved  just  as  strong  a 
tendency  towards  universalism  as  the  Jewish 

11 


146        What  is  Religion  ? 

religion,  perhaps  even  a  stronger  one.  It  was 
the  religion  of  an  imperial,  important  nation, 
and  with  this  nation  it  spread  into  the  West. 
In  all  probability,  indeed,  it  influenced  later 
Judaism  in  its  development  in  several  par- 
ticulars— in  its  belief  in  the  future  life  and 
the  resurrection,  and  in  the  dualistic  character 
of  its  religion  {i.e.,  the  belief  in  the  devil). 
The  Persian  religion,  however,  attained  its 
highest  power  of  development  in  its  offspring, 
the  religion  of  Mithras.  We  know,  indeed, 
very  little  really  about  the  inner,  spiritual 
merit  of  this  religion.  It  belongs  to  the  so- 
called  mystery-religions  of  the  later  Roman- 
Hellenic  period  of  culture,  which  were  surrounded 
with  secrecy.  The  principal  god,  and  practi- 
cally the  only  god  of  this  religion,  was  Mithras, 
originally  the  god  of  light,  later  the  uncon- 
querable, victorious  sun-god  as  well  as  the 
guardian  of  all  fidelity,  morality,  and  veracity. 
From  the  end  of  the  second  century  a.d.  this 
religion,  always  favoured  by  the  Roman  Em- 
perors, became  the  most  important  in  the 
Roman  Empire.  With  its  sharp  distinction 
between  good  and  evil,  its  fundamental  prin- 
ciple that  every  useful  act,  every  act  that 
advanced  morality  and  civilisation,  was  an 
act  performed  for  God ;  with  the  severe  dis- 
cipline, the  acts  of  renunciation  and  of  penance 


The  Religions  of  the  Law   147 

which  it  imposed  upon  its  worshippers  ;  with 
its  worship  of  the  victorious  sun -god ;  with  the 
mystical  nimbus  with  which  it  surrounded 
the  person  of  the  worldly  ruler,  this  religion 
was  fitted,  as  no  other  was,  to  become  the 
religion  of  the  Roman  legions.  The  Roman 
legions  carried  the  worship  of  Mithras  beyond 
the  Rhine ;  in  Baden  and  Hesse  places  where 
the  Persian  god  was  worshipped  are  still  to 
be  found.  The  religion  of  Mithras  was  the 
last  dangerous  rival  of  Christianity.  The 
Emperor  Julian,  the  great  opponent  of  the 
Galilean,  was  a  worshipper  of  Mithras.  Finally, 
however,  after  the  victory  of  Christianity  in 
the  Roman  Empire,  the  Persian  religion  was 
entirely  confined  to  the  Persian  nation.  Here 
the  orthodox,  intolerant  Persian  Church  of 
the  Sassanian  period,  which  persecuted  the 
Christians,  was  developed  until  the  end  was 
prepared  for  it  by  the  triumphant  progress 
of  Islamism. 

We  have  now  come  to  the  third  religion 
which  is  to  be  considered.  Islamism,  indeed, 
has  the  characteristics  of  a  religion  which  has 
remained  at  the  transition  stage.  Considered 
superficially,  it  seems,  of  course,  to  have  the 
character  of  a  monotheistic  universal  religion. 
Belief  in  one  God  as  the  central  point  of 
religion  is  upheld  with  great  zeal,  with  fanatical 


O 


V 


148        What  is  Religion  ? 

obstinacy  even.  We  need  not  discuss  here  the 
lack  of  any  sense  of  suitability  which  was  dis- 
played in  retaining  in  a  monotheistic  religion, 
a  place  sacred  to  the  heathen  gods — the  Kaaba 
(originally  a  stone  fetich),  in  Mecca — as  the 
centre  of  religious  worship.  Islamism  spread 
over  the  most  different  nations  and  race  and 
kept,  so  it  would  appear,  its  universal  character. 
According  to  numbers,  Islamism,  with  its 
200,000,000  adherents,  stands  third  among  the 
religions.  Its  proselytes  to-day  are  numerically 
greater  than  those  of  Christianity.  But  it 
has  not  been  successful  in  influencing  the  more 
advanced  and  civilised  peoples  ;  it  has,  on  the 
contrary,  descended  to  the  lower  races,  to  the 
Mongols  and  the  negroes.  In  its  native  land  of 
Arabia,  the  population,  speaking  in  general 
terms,  has  once  more  sunk  to  the  level  of 
Bedouin  life  before  the  time  of  Mohammed. 

Yet  Islamism  seems  to  be  a  religion  of 
universal  monotheism ;  really,  however,  it  was, 
and  remained,  a  national  religion,  or  more 
correctly,  a  politically  restricted  and  limited 
religion.  Mohammed's  life-work  was  indeed  a 
national  and  political  one,  the  amalgamation 
of  the  Arab  tribes  into  a  nation.  The  prophet, 
during  his  last  years,  and  his  followers  inscribed 
on  their  banner,  as  their  object,  the  political 
dominion  of  the  world.     In  the  development  of 


The  Religions  of  the  Law   149 

Islamism    the    question    of    Mohammed's   legal 
successor — a  political  question  of  great  moment 
— played  the  most  important  part  of  all.     Here 
sects    and    parties   were    as    much    divided    as 
Christians   on  matters  of  belief.     Islamism  at- 
tained  its   expansion   by  holy  war   and   propa- 
ganda    by    the    sword.      In   its    dealings    with 
Judaism  and  Christianity,  it  did  not  pursue  the 
proper   object  of   a  universal  religion,  namely, 
conversion,  but  only  that  of  political  subjection. 
It  preferred,  on  the  whole,  the  tribute  money  of 
the  unbeliever  to  conversion.     To-day  Islamism 
is  still  a  political  power.   It  recognises,  generally 
speaking,   only  one    political  chief,  who  is,   for 
the  majority  of  believers,  the  Sultan  of  Turkey. 
When  the  Shah  of  Persia,  who  claims  leadership, 
goes  to  Constantinople,  many  ceremonial  objec- 
tions are   made  to  the  visit.  And  if  an  Islamic 
warrior-hero   were   to   appear   upon   the   scene 
with  such  success  that  the  belief  spread  that  he 
was   the   longed-for  redeemer,   the  Mahdi,   the 
whole  of  Islam  would  undertake  a  holy   war; 
for  religion  and  politics  are  very  closely  bound 
up  with  one  another  in  Islamism. 

If  at  this  point  we  cast  a  glance  at  the 
development  of  the  Christian  Churches,  we  shall 
see  how  the  national,  political  element  had  here 
gained  the  mastery.  The  Christian  religion  of 
the    Eastern    Byzantine    Empire  is    almost    as 


% 


Ou 


150         What  is  Religion? 

absolutely  national  and  limited  as  the  Persian 
Church  of  the  Sassanian  Empire.  The  great 
rival  of  Islamism,  Rome  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
Rome  of  the  powerful  Papacy  and  the  Crusades, 
had  generated  a  political  piety,  which,  so  far  as 
its  essential  character  is  concerned,  stands  in 
close  relationship  to  that  of  Islamism.  Only 
after  long  and  severe  struggles  has  religion 
been  able  to  burst  the  fetters  of  national  and 
political  narrowness,  and  rise  to  the  concep- 
tion of  a  wide,  free  universalism. 

II.  We  have  seen  how  the  prophets  were  the 
opponents  of  sacrificial  worship,  the  central 
idea  of  all  national  religions.  The  religions 
based  on  the  law  maintained  a  divided  opinion 
on  this  matter.  The  early  prophets  of  Israel 
were  zealous  supporters  of  the  worship  in  the 
Temple,  and  after  the  Babylonian  captivity  the 
ceremonial  tendency  triumphed  in  the  newly- 
founded  Jewish  priest-state.  Every  seventh 
man  of  those  who  returned  from  exile  was  a 
priest.  The  later  legislation  of  Israel  was 
ceremonial  and  priest-ridden.  The  majority  of 
the  psalms  bear  witness  to  an  unrestricted, 
unhesitating  ceremonial  worship.  But  the 
critical  voices  were  loudly  opposed  to  it ;  the 
last  chapter  of  Isaiah  displays  this  in  most 
powerful  manner  : 
. "  The  heaven   is  My  throne,  the  earth  is  My 


The  Religions  of  the  Law   151 

footstool :  what  manner  of  house  will  ye  build 
unto  Me?  what  place  shall  be  My  rest?  .  .  . 
He  that  killeth  an  ox  is  as  he  that  slayeth  a 
man ;  he  that  sacrificeth  a  lamb,  as  he  that 
breaketh  a  dog's  neck;  he  that  offereth  an 
oblation,  as  he  that  offereth  swine's  blood ;  he 
that  burneth  frankincense,  as  he  that  blesseth 
an  idol." 

It  is  true  that  powerful  polemical  voices  of 
this  kind  were  but  seldom  raised.  From  the 
point  of  view  of  general  characterisation,  it  is 
more  important  to  observe  that,  on  the  whole, 
the  later  Jewish  piety  bore  no  natural  relation 
to  the  newly  arisen  worship.  Worship  no  longer 
remained  the  centre  of  piety ;  this  was,  indeed, 
impossible,  owing  to  the  wide  expansion  of 
Judaism.  The  worship  so  intimately  bound  up 
with  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem  did  not  suffice 
for  a  Judaism  spread  over  the  whole  world.  A 
religious  service  in  which  the  individual  could 
only  take  part  once  or  twice  in  his  life,  perhaps, 
could  not  very  well  remain  the  central  point 
of  religion.  With  the  third  and  second  cen- 
turies B.C.  the  deterioration  and  secularisation 
of  the  Jewish  priesthood  began  to  set  in, 
and,  above  all,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  the  new 
religious  service  of  the  synagogue  was  accepted, 
the  value  of  which  we  shall  estimate  later. 
Thus  the  soul   of  pious  Judaism  was  released 


152         What  is  Religion  ? 


from  ceremonial  worship.  The  destruction  of 
the  Temple,  and  consequently  of  Divine  worship 
(in  70  A.D.),  did  not  in  any  way  injure  Judaism. 

Matters  followed  very  much  the  same  course 
in  the  Persian  religion,  though  they  are  not 
so  clearly  to  be  distinguished.  Zarathushtra 
preached,  on  the  whole,  it  would  seem,  a  religion 
without  ceremony.  The  priests  were  the 
enemies  of  the  prophet.  It  struck  the  Greeks 
as  extraordinary  above  all  else  that  in  the 
Persian  religion  there  were  no  temples,  no 
images,  and  no  sacrificing  of  animals.  Still,  there 
remained  a  certain  amount  of  ceremonial  in  the 
religion.  There  was,  specially,  the  worship  of 
fire.  In  numberless  temples  of  fire  the  holy  fire 
was  maintained,  tended,  and  worshipped  amid 
countless  ceremonies  which  only  the  members  of 
the  priesthood  were  able  to  perform.  Gradually 
animal  sacrifice  crept  into  the  Persian  religion. 
In  the  religion  of  Mithras  sacrifice  played  a 
very  important  part,  as  did  the  worship  in  the 
subterranean  temples  at  the  altars  of  the  god  to 
whom  bulls  were  offered.  This  worship  was 
surrounded  by  mysterious  rites  of  a  magic 
nature. 

Islamism,  the  most  consistent  of  all  the  three 
religions  in  this  respect,  substituted  for  sacri- 
ficial worship  a  spiritual  form  of  worship.  Its 
examples  were    Christianity,  and,  above  all,  a 


The  Religions  of  the  Law   153 

Judaism  which  no  longer  employed  sacrifices 
in  its  worship.  The  history  of  the  Christian 
religion,  however,  shows  how  very  difficult  it 
is  to  overcome  in  a  religion  the  idea  of  sacrifice, 
the  belief  that  man  is  not  permitted  to  approach 
the  Godhead  without  sacrifice.  From  the  time  of 
Paul  onwards  the  central  idea  of  the  Christian 
religion  has  been,  more  or  less,  that  for  believers 
the  necessary  Sacrifice  was  offered  once  for  all 
in  the  death  of  Christ.  Both  branches  of  the 
Catholic  Church  still  preserve  as  the  central 
point  of  their  worship  the  sacrificial  Mass,  the 
spiritual  representation  of  the  great  Sacrifice 
that  was  once  offered. 

III.  Although  the  religions  of  the  law  grad- 
ually departed  from  Temple  worship  and 
sacrificial  worship,  and  the  whole  series  of 
customs,  &c.,  bound  up  with  these,  no  truly 
spiritual  religion  arose  in  its  place.  For  instead 
of  "  worship "  a  powerful  external  means  of 
union  came  into  existence ;  this  was  "  obser- 
vance," or  religious  custom.  We  must  endeavour 
to  understand  the  nature  of  this  phenomenon. 

Let  us  consider  later  Judaism.  What  gives 
this  religion  its  peculiar  hall-mark?  Is  it  not 
religious  custom — circumcision,  the  mainten- 
ance of  the  Sabbath,  the  tithes,  the  avoidance 
of  mixed  marriages,  the  laws  concerning  food, 
directions    for    purifications,   and    not    sacrifice 


154         What  is  Religion? 

and  worship  in  the  temples  ?     Throughout   the 
world  a  Jew  is  recognised  by  these  things. 

All  these  customs  were  originally  national 
customs  to  which  no  specially  religious 
significance  was  attached,  or  at  any  rate  only 
in  so  far  as  all  national  customs  are  at  the 
same  time  religious  customs  when  religion  is 
at  the  national  stage.  Now  these  customs 
become  the  very  centre  of  religion,  they  are 
the  first  holy  commands  of  God.  Circurocision, 
originally  a  national  symbol — the  meaning  of 
which  is  not  quite  clear — that  Israel  had 
separated  from  the  other  nations,  became  the 
very  essence  of  Judaism.  The  union  of  God  with 
Abraham  rested  on  the  idea  of  circumcision.  The 
custom  of  keeping  the  Sabbath  holy  was  a 
very  old  religious  custom,  perhaps  of  Baby- 
lonian origin ;  its  meaning  was  no  clearer  than 
that  of  circumcision,  but  now  it  becomes  the 
second  great  religious  law.  On  the  seventh  day 
man  is  to  cease  from  his  labour,  as  God  rested 
from  His  work  of  creation.  The  breaking  of 
this  law  was  punishable  by  death.  The  payment 
of  tithes,  originally  a  simple  duty  appertaining 
to  worship,  became  now  a  principle  of  religious 
life.  Curiously  enough,  this  payment  was  now 
regarded  as  of  much  greater  importance  than 
of  yore,  although,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  service 
in   the   Temple   provided   by   it   lost   more   and 


The  Religions  of  the  Law   155 

more  any  significance  for  the  true  inner  life  of 
religion. 

This  emphasis  laid  on  religious  custom 
developed — in  the  centuries  immediately  preced- 
ing the  period  of  the  New  Testament — into  a 
regular  system.  In  this  way  there  arose  the 
party  which  we  call  Pharisaical.  The  leader 
of  the  Pharisees  pronounced  his  ideal  to  be  "  to 
put  a  hedge  round  the  people" — that  is,  to 
surround  the  whole  life  of  the  people  with  a 
large  number  of  ceremonial  regulations,  to 
give  them  an  appointed  task  for  every  moment, 
every  minute,  every  hour,  and  to  preserve  to 
the  sacred  nation  of  God  its  peculiar  character 
among  all  other  nations.  It  is  almost  impossible 
to  conceive  the  way  in  which  the  lives  of  the 
faithful  were  bound  down  and  confined  by  the 
hundreds  and  thousands  of  minute,  insignificant 
rules  which  surrounded  them.  The  religion  of 
the  Pharisees  became  the  classical  example  of 
a  religion  of  observance,  and  at  the  same  time 
it  marks  a  retrograde  step.  Yet  it  cannot  be 
denied  that  enormous  religious  energy  was  put 
into  this  religion,  but  it  was  dissipated  in  trifles, 
ensnared  in  outward  observances.  The  object, 
that  of  preserving  to  the  Jews  their  peculiarities, 
was  attained,  but  at  the  price  of  contempt 
among  the  other  nations  for  the  "  sacred 
people," 


156         What  is   Religion? 

The  Persian  religion  (Zoroastrianism)  developed 
in  a  manner  analogous  to  that  of  Judaism.  It 
also  became  a  religion  of  observance.  The 
Vendidad,  the  Persian  Book  of  the  Law,  bears 
a  great  likeness  to  the  middle  books  of  the 
Pentateuch.  The  representations  of  the  battles 
of  the  Greeks  and  the  Persians  on  the  celebrated 
so-called  Alexander  sarcophagus  are  well  known. 
There  the  Persians  are  everywhere  recognised 
by  the  great  mouth-bands  which  half  covered 
their  faces.  We  are  confronted  with  one  of 
the  principles  of  the  Persian  religion.  The  pious 
Persian  must  always  wear  a  band  over  his 
mouth  so  that  his  breath  may  not  pollute  the 
holy  elements,  fire  and  air.  Besides  the  wearing 
of  this  mouth-band  it  is  the  religious  duty  of 
every  adult  Persian  to  wear  the  sacred  girdle. 
The  whole  Persian  religion  is  penetrated  with  a 
fear  of  dishonouring  and  defiling  the  elements. 
Especially  characteristic  is  the  treatment  of 
corpses,  which  is  a  quite  intelligible  custom, 
regarded  from  the  above  point  of  view.  The 
Persian  may  not  burn  the  corpse,  for  then 
he  would  defile  the  holy  fire,  and  he  must  not 
confide  it  to  the  earth,  for  that  would  be  a  crime 
against  the  holy  element.  So  the  bodies  are 
put  into  great  uncovered  towers,  and  left  to 
the  birds  to  devour.  In  preparing  food  it  is 
considered  among  the  Persians  a  serious  sin  to 


The  Religions  of  the   Law   157 

let  the  water  boil  over.  The  fire  is  defiled  by- 
water  that  boils  over.  The  Vendidad  is  full 
of  insignificant  regulations,  often  of  a  ridiculous 
kind,  and  much  space  is  devoted  to  minute 
rules  concerning  the  inviolability  of  certain 
classes  of  animals — cattle,  dogs.  An  extensive 
system  of  penances  and  punishments  corre- 
sponds to  these  minute  ceremonial  regulations. 
A  deadly  sin,  which  a  man  may  very  easily 
commit,  may  be  absolved  by  two  hundred 
scourgings. 

It  will  be  an  easy  task  to  show  that  the  third 
religion  which  is  to  be  considered,  Islamism, 
placed  religious  custom  in  a  central  position. 
We  need  only  call  to  mind  the  so-called  five 
foundation  pillars,  i.e.,  the  religious  principles  of 
this  religion.  These,  in  addition  to  acknowledg- 
ment of  one  God,  were  the  duty  of  prayer  five 
times  daily,  the  keeping  of  the  month  of  the 
fast,  the  giving  of  alms  to  the  poor,  and  pil- 
grimage to  Mecca — at  least  once  in  a  lifetime. 
Regulations  concerning  religious  observances 
almost  entirely  occupy  the  central  place  in  the 
religion. 

Ceremony,  without  doubt,  is  a  powerful  ex- 
ternal bond  of  union  in  religion.  Wherever  it 
exercises  a  commanding  influence  there  is  cer- 
tainly no  danger  of  an  entirely  isolated  religious 


158         What  is  Religion  ? 

life ;  by  means  of  it  the  true  inwardness  and 
spirituality  of  religion  can  be  preserved,  the 
consciousness  of  a  direct  vital  relation  to  God, 
and  the  feeling  of  unconditional  moral  duty. 
Yet  it  is  clear  that  it  may  be  an  enormous 
danger  for  the  religious  life.  Three  great 
religions  have  been  more  or  less  destroyed 
by  it.  What  a  power  ceremony  displayed 
even  in  the  Christian  Churches !  At  the  same 
time,  ceremony  kept  religion  firmly  fixed  at 
the  national  stage,  for,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  the  national  custom  continues  in  the 
religious  observance.  There  is  also  another 
point  to  be  considered :  the  current  idea  of 
right  is  connected  with  custom.  Religious 
custom  is  synonymous  with  religious  right. 
Religion  and  jurisprudence  at  this  stage  of 
religion  form  a  very  close  alliance.  Religion 
threatens  to  become  merely  in  the  nature  of  a 
contract  between  God  and  man.  The  feeling  of 
the  superiority  of  the  Godhead  tends  to  disap- 
pear ;  the  idea  of  profit  plays  the  principal  part. 
Religion  becomes  a  business.  And  just  as  legal 
justice,  in  accordance  with  its  nature — at  least 
in  practice — is  outwardly  casuistical  and  more 
negative  than  positive,  so  religion  assumes  the 
character  of  casuistry  outwardly,  and  threatens 
to  fall  into  ruin  through  an  excess  of  regula- 
tions,   and    especially    of     prohibitions.      Thus 


J 


J 


The  Religions  of  the  Law   159 

custom,  usage,  and  right  put  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  a  closer  union  betT\^een  the  two  vital 
forces  which  are  really  connected — ^religion  and 
morality. 

IV.  We  must  also  notice  some  new  charac- 
teristic forms  and  peculiarities  which  are 
common  to  the  religions  at  this  stage.  Speak- 
ing generally,  it  may  be  said  that  when  religion 
freed  itself  from  the  fetters  of  nationality  and 
ceased  to  be  merely  a  national  custom  such  new 
forms  were  a  necessity.  ^ 

First  of  all  we  have  the  creed.  Religion  is  U^-^ 
now  no  longer  a  matter  of  custom,  but  of  per- 
sonal conviction ;  hence  a  new  bond  of  union 
came  into  existence  which  would  render  the 
possession  of  religion  which  all  held  in  common 
quite  secure.  This  new  bond  was  a  short  sum- 
mary of  the  most  important  points  in  the 
religion,  in  the  form  of  dogmatic  sentences — 
that  is,  the  creed.  Among  the  original  docu- 
ments of  Zoroastrianism  numerous  creeds  of 
this  kind  are  to  be  found.  The  oldest  known 
creed  of  the  Ahuna-Vairya — which  even  to 
the  followers  of  this  religion  had  become  an 
unintelligible  formula  (one  remembers  the 
Catholic  Paternoster  here) — may  be  roughly 
translated  as  "The  will  of  the  Lord  is  the 
law  of  justice.     The  reward    of  heaven   is  for 


i6o         What  is  Religion? 

those  who  have  worked  in  the  world  for 
Mazda.  Ahura  grants  the  kingdom  to  those 
who  have  helped  the  poor."  Another  interest- 
ing formula  ^vhich  is  used  in  the  confession  of 
the  Mazda  faith  runs  thus :  "I  abjure  the 
devil.  I  confess  myself  as  a  worshipper  of 
Mazda,  a  believer  in  Zarathushtra,  an  enemy  of 
the  Devas,  an  adorer  of  the  Ameshas-Spentas. 
I  abjure  theft  and  the  plunder  of  cattle.  I 
abjure  plundering  and  laying  waste.  Sincerely 
and  with  raised  hand  do  I  swear  all  this."  It  is 
noticeable  how  in  this  confession  of  faith  the 
religion  of  Zoroastrianism  appears  in  its  striving 
after  civilisation,  in  its  struggle  against  the 
barbarians.  In  Israel  the  creed  is  less  strongly 
developed.  The  prayer,  however,  which  as  early 
as  the  period  of  the  New  Testament  the  Jew 
had  to  say  morning  and  evening,  the  so-called 
Schema,  is  simply  a  creed :  ' '  Hear,  O  Israel, 
Jehovah  is  our  God,  Jehovah  alone.  Thou  shalt 
love  Jehovah  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and 
all  thy  soul,  and  all  thy  powers."  *'  Allah  is 
great,  and  Mohammed  is  his  prophet,"  confesses 
the  follower  of  Mohammed. 

The  belief  naturally  corresponds  to  the  creed. 
In  the  prophetical  religions,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  everything  is  based  on  personal  conviction 
of  belief.  The  consciousness  that  religion  was  a 
belief  was  already  beginning  to  dawn,  although 


The  Religions  of  the  Law    i6i 

it  only  developed  itself  freely  at  a  higher  stage. 
We  have  already  referred  to  the  fact  that  one 
of  the  first  Medean  kings,  King  Phraortes,  was 
called  the  Confessor.  "Above  all  else,  love 
thy  God,  who  created  heaven  and  earth " ; 
thus  began  a  Jewish  document  in  which  was 
shortly  summarised,  for  the  purpose  of  propa- 
ganda work,  the  quintessence  of  the  Jewish 
religion  and  morality.  And  as  religion  became 
more  and  more  conviction,  it  follows  that  now 
in  one  and  the  same  people  a  sharp  line  is 
drawn  between  the  religious  and  the  irreligious, 
between  believers  and  non-believers.  As  long  as 
religion  remained  stationary  at  the  stage  of 
national  religions,  the  godless  were  a  rapidly 
disappearing  exception.  The  supporters  of  the 
nation  were  naturally  supporters  of  the  religion. 
Now  religion  makes  a  cleft  in  the  individual 
nation.  In  the  early  Persian  documents  we  often 
meet  with  a  distinction  between  believers  and 
doubters,  between  the  godless  and  the  faithful. 
It  is  well  known  how  in  the  Old  Testament  the 
believers  in  the  law  are  contrasted  with  the 
scoffers,  the  pious  with  the  godless;  and  it  is 
likewise  well  known,  as  we  see  in  the  New 
Testament,  that  hostility  existed  between  the 
Pharisees  on  the  one  hand  and  the  sinners  and 
publicans  on  the  other. 

V.  These  religions  now  found  for  themselves 

12 


1 62        What  is    Religion  ? 

a  new  bond  of  union  in  a  collection  of  the 
original  documents  appertaining  to  their 
religion.  Everywhere  at  this  stage  of  religion, 
we  meet  with  the  same  noteworthy  fact,  a 
canon  of  the  holy  writings.  In  Judaism  we 
have  the  collection  of  Old  Testament  writings 
which  was  finished  in  the  time  of  the  New 
Testament ;  for  Zoroastrianism  we  have  the 
religious  documents,  the  Avestas,  which  did  not 
receive  their  final  form  until  the  period  of  the 
Sassanian  dynasty;  Buddhism  had  its  Tripi- 
taka  (so-called  because  of  its  contents,  divided 
into  three  parts),  Islamism  its  Koran.  The 
secular,  half-philosophic  nature  of  the  late 
Hellenic,  post-Platonic  religion  is  seen  in  the 
fact  that  no  attempt  was  made  to  put  together 
a  similar  collection  on  its  behalf. 

These  collections  of  writings  are  of  very 
varied  contents ;  they  all,  however,  have  this 
characteristic  in  common,  that  they  contain 
witnesses  from  the  classic  past  of  religion,  from 
a  period  that  is  considered  absolutely  authorita- 
tive for  the  present.  Proverbs,  sayings,  writings 
of  the  founder  of  the  religion  and  of  the  great 
men  of  the  past  who  stood  near  him ;  hymns  to 
the  Godhead ;  ancient  sacred  history ;  stories  from 
the  life  of  the  founder;  ceremonial,  religious, 
and  moral  directions — all  these  are  to  be  found 
in  these  books  of  manifold  contents. 


The  Religions  of  the  Law   163 

This  canon  now  becomes  an  absolute  autho- 
rity; it  gives  clear,  positive,  and  complete 
answers  to  every  question  respecting  belief, 
morality,  and  worship.  Its  authority  is  binding 
and  inviolable,  for  the  canon — this  again  is  a 
conviction  common  to  all  these  religions — is 
inspired.  It  is  not  the  work  of  man,  but  it  has 
been  given  literally  by  the  Godhead.  To  faith 
the  most  impossible  thing  becomes  possible.  To 
the  Jews  of  the  New  Testament  period  not  only 
were  the  Old  Testament  writings  inspired,  but 
likewise  the  Greek  translation  of  these  writings. 
The  law  of  Moses  was  prehistoric  (in  their  view), 
it  existed  before  the  creation  of  the  world  and 
was  revealed  by  Heaven.  An  almost  fetich-like 
reverence  was  paid  to  the  Thora  rolls,  the  rolls 
on  which  the  law  was  written.  By  the  later 
adherents  of  Islamism  the  Koran  was  regarded 
as  a  book  fallen  from  heaven.  Every  letter  is 
inspired,  every  letter  is  a  witness  ;  the  statement, 
"It  is  written  in  the  Koran,"  is  decisive.  Piety 
consists  of  the  most  intimate  familiarity  with 
the  text  of  the  writings. 

Thus  there  arose  a  new  order  of  leaders  and 
guides  in  the  religious  life ;  as  religion  now 
rests  on  a  canon  of  holy  writings,  a  careful, 
systematic  study  of  these  writings  is  of  the 
utmost   importance.      The    leaders    of   religion 


164        What  is  Religion  ? 


were  now  the  learned  men  who  had  studied 
the  holy  writings  and  knew  every  part  of  them 
thoroughly.  It  is  well  known  how  important 
was  the  part  played  by  those  learned  in 
the  Holy  Scriptures  among  the  Jewish  people 
in  the  time  of  Christ.  A  saying  of  Hillel's, 
a  contemporary  of  Christ's,  "  No  uneducated 
man  shuns  sin,  no  common  man  is  pious,"  illus- 
trates the  arrogance  of  this  leadership  based 
on  learning.  We  know  how  strongly  Jesus 
opposed  this  piety  resting  on  learning.  The 
Mager  played  a  somewhat  similar  part  in  the 
Persian  religion ;  we  must  think  of  these  men 
as  half-priests,  and  above  all  as  learned  men 
well  versed  in  the  old  sacred  traditions.  Parallel 
to  the  phenomenon  of  the  Jewish  learned  doctors 
and  the  Mager  were  the  late  Hellenic  philoso- 
phers who  taught  religion  and  morality  to  their 
little  circles  rather  than  secular  knowledge. 
Mohammedanism  in  the  Middle  Ages  had  its 
theologians  who  exercised  a  beneficial  influence 
upon  Christian  theology.  The  theologians  be- 
came the  leaders  of  religion. 

In  connection  with  this  there  arose  a  new 
form  of  piety  which  might  be  described  as 
learned  piety.  Reverence  for  the  Scriptures, 
constant  and  devout  reading  of  the  Scriptures 
were  the  signs  of  this  piety.     It  is  characteristic 


The  Religions  of  tlie  Law   165 

of  Jewish  piety  that  the  boy  learnt  to  read 
from  the  Scriptures.  "  The  Bible  became  his 
primer."  In  the  early  days  of  Islamism  the 
bigoted  and  fanatical  sect  of  the  "  Koran- 
readers  "  played  a  great  part.  In  the  beginning 
of  the  struggle  concerning  the  successor  of  the 
Prophet,  when  two  Mohammedan  armies  met 
the  side  that  had  already  been  conquered  put 
Korans  on  the  point  of  their  lances,  and  then 
those  on  the  other  side  abstained  from  taking 
advantage  of  their  victory.  True,  earnest  piety 
may  be  and  often  has  been  combined  with  this 
piety  based  on  an  absolute  belief  in  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  Scriptures.  But  there  is  great,  \ 
danger  attached  to  it.  It  is  not  only  that  piety  / 
tends  to  become  mere  learning:  it  is  that  this 
constant  dwelling  upon  the  sacred  past,  this 
constant  neglect  of  the  present  and  its  duty,  is 
especially  dangerous.  Piety  becomes  an  empty 
game  of  memory,  a  game  in  which  a  crafty 
ingenuity  plays  an  important  part.  Those  who 
are  best  able  to  apply  to  the  present  and  its 
needs  the  half-understood  texts  of  Scripture, 
torn  from  their  contexts,  impress  people  and 
are  considered  religious. 

VI.  We  must  also  specially  notice  that  now 
an  entirely  new  form  of  common  worship 
arose,  that  new  form  of  worship  which  we 
see  most  clearly  in  the  Jewish  synagogue.     We 


1 66        What  is  Religion  ? 

have  already  mentioned  that  the  real  old 
ceremonial  worship  of  Judaism,  now  scattered 
far  and  wide,  was  confined  to  the  Temple  at 
Jerusalem.  It  was  therefore  almost  a  necessity 
that  a  non-ritualistic  worship  in  the  synagogue 
should  arise.  How  was  this  service  in  the 
synagogue  instituted?  A  gathering  together 
of  the  community  in  a  sacred  building,  especially 
on  the  Sabbath,  prayer  in  common,  reading  of 
the  Scriptures,  exposition  of  the  Scriptures — we 
should  call  this  preaching — blessing,  these  were 
the  elements  of  this  Divine  service.  This  new 
form  of  worship  spread  with  Judaism  all  over 
the  world.  It  was  a  Divine  service  without 
ceremonial  pomp,  without  a  priesthood,  without 
sacrifice ;  the  organisation  was  completely 
democratic.  Truly  we  have  here  almost  a 
worship  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  in  forms  which 
are  still  extraordinarily  familiar  to  us.  In  the 
Persian  religion  the  service  remained  more 
ceremonial,  more  ritualistic,  but  we  possess 
less  clear  information  concerning  the  institu- 
tions of  Divine  service  in  the  Persian  religion. 
Tradition  tells  us  that  there  were  "  reading- 
places  "  in  this  religion.  In  Islamism,  however, 
we  have  again  this  same  form  of  non-cere- 
monial worship.  One  of  the  five  dogmas  of 
Islamism  is  the  duty  of  prayer  five  times  daily. 
What    the    Mohammedan    calls    a    prayer   we 


The  Religions  of  the  Law    167 

should  call  a  short  service.  Five  times  a  day  at 
the  appointed  times  the  faithful  gather  together 
in  the  mosques.  From  the  graceful  minarets, 
the  symbol  of  all  Mohammedan  towns,  the 
crier  announces  the  hours  of  prayer.  Under 
the  guidance  of  a  leader,  the  pious  say  their 
entirely  conventional  prayers.  At  mid-day  there 
is  a  solemn  service  with  preaching. 

Many  other  forms  of  religion  at  this  stage 
might  be  described ;  I  will  only  refer  to  the 
lay  prayers  outside  the  synagogue,  which  were 
systematic  and  regular,  to  the  value  which 
was  laid  upon  fasting  in  both  Judaism  and 
Islamism,  and  to  the  importance  of  tending  to 
the  poor  and  alms-giving  in  all  three  religions. 

VII.  The  close  connection  between  these  three 
religions  in  their  main  characteristics  is  seen 
most  clearly  if  we  look  at  one  fundamental 
idea  that  is  common  to  all  three  of  them — that 
of  the  Judgment,  one  of  the  most  important  ideas 
in  the  history  of  religion.  We  have  seen  how 
the  thought  of  future  retribution  was  already 
present  in  the  national  religions,  but  nowhere — 
with  the  exception  of  the  Egyptian  religion, 
v^hich  was  already  stagnant — was  it  the  central 
idea.  In  the  religions  of  the  law  this  idea  now 
gained  an  overmastering  and  dominating  im- 
portance. It  seemed  as  if  the  Persian  religion 
were  to  take  the  lead  here,  for  it  was  the  Persian 


1 68        What  is  Religion  ? 

religion  apparently  that  first  developed  the 
idea  of  future  retribution  with  very  great 
energy,  and  pushed  it  into  the  foreground. 
"  The  reward  of  heaven  is  for  the  works  which 
are  performed  in  this  world  for  Mazda,"  runs 
the  text  in  the  ancient  Ahuna-Vairya.  The 
oldest  writings  of  Zoroastrianism  are  full  of  mys- 
terious references  to  the  great  day  of  terrible 
judgment.  The  Persian  religion  developed 
this  idea  in  a  twofold  form  ;  on  the  one  hand 
it  announced  for  the  individual  judgment 
immediately  after  death,  and  on  the  other 
hand  it  preached  a  great  world-judgment  by 
Ahura-Mazda  combined  with  the  burning  of 
the  world,  the  re-creation  of  the  world,  and 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  Judaism  between 
the  third  and  second  centuries,  so  it  appears, 
developed,  under  the  influence  of  the  Persian  re- 
ligion, and  through  the  expansion  of  the  germin- 
ating ideas  of  its  own  religion,  the  thought  of  a 
future  retribution — also  in  a  twofold  form.  And 
finally  this  belief  became  the  central  point  in 
Mohammed's  preaching.  Wherever  we  open 
the  Koran  we  find  the  doctrine  of  the  last  day, 
of  eternal  judgment.  A  few  examples  are  suffi- 
cient to  show  what  power  and  weight  this  belief 
had  developed  in  these  religions  at  the  time 
of  which  we  are  speaking.  Here  on  the  one 
side  we  have  a  Jewish  Apocalyptic  writer  at  the 


The  Religions  of  the  Law    169 

end  of  the  first  century  A.D.,  the  author  of  the 
so-called   Fourth  Book  of  Ezra  : 

"  And  after  seven  days  the  world  that  yet 
awaketh  not  shall  be  raised  up,  and  that 
shall  die  that  is  corrupt.  And  the  earth  shall 
restore  those  that  are  asleep  in  her,  and  so 
shall  the  dust  those  that  dwell  in  silence,  and 
the  secret  places  shall  deliver  those  souls  that 
were  committed  unto  them. 

"  And  the  Most  High  shall  appear  upon  the 
seat  of  judgment,  and  misery  shall  pass  away, 
and  the  long  suffering  shall  have  an  end : 

"  But  judgment  only  shall  remain,  truth  shall 
stand,  and  faith  shall  wax  strong : 

"  And  the  work  shall  follow,  and  the  reward 

shall  be  shewed,  and  the  good   deeds  shall  be 

of  force,  and  wicked  deeds  shall  bear  no  rule." 

By  the  side  of  this  may  be  placed  Sura  101  of 

the  Koran  : 

"  On  that  day  men  shall  be  like  moths 
scattered  abroad,  and  the  mountains  shall  be- 
come like  carded  wool  of  various  colours  driven 
by  the  wind.  Moreover  he  whose  balance  shall 
be  heavy  with  good  works,  shall  lead  a  pleasing 
life :  but  as  to  him  whose  balance  shall  be 
light,  his  dwelling  shall  be  the  pit  of  hell.  Who 
shall  make  thee  to  understand  how  frightful 
the  pit  of  hell  is.     It  is  a  burning  hell."* 

*  Sale's  Translation. 


170        What  is  Religion  ? 

It  is  no  wonder  that  in  these  religions — in 
which  all  appears  based  on  legal  acts  in 
honour  of  God,  and  where  right  plays  so 
important  a  part — the  idea  of  retribution  should 
occupy  a  central  position.  In  any  case  these 
religions  have  here  developed  a  belief  of 
enormous  importance  for  religious  life,  to 
which  it  gave  a  concentrated,  united,  and 
immense  strength.  The  object  of  man's  whole 
life  and  action  appears  now  to  be  his  exami- 
nation on  the  Day  of  Judgment  before  the 
awful  presence  of  God.  Man  is  placed  on  the 
earth  for  a  short  span  of  time  in  order  to 
prepare  for  eternity.  Religion  and  morality  are 
most  closely  united  in  this  belief.  The  whole 
history  of  the  world,  from  this  aspect,  becomes 
an  intimate  unity,  and  at  the  end  there  is  the 
great  Day  of  Judgment  for  the  world.  The  life 
of  the  individual  becomes  enormously  more 
valuable  now,  for  by  his  acts  and  his  omissions 
he  settles  his  eternal  destiny,  and  in  his  own 
hands  he  holds  heaven  and  hell. 

Here  once  more  we  perceive  the  limitations 
and  restrictions  in  the  religions  of  the  law.  The 
tendency  towards  external  forms,  the  depend- 
^ence  on  the  senses,  the  incapability  of  a  pure 
comprehension  of  any  great  and  spiritual  ideas  are 
clearly  shown.  The  idea  of  judgment  is  every- 
where a  terribly  material  one,  generally  resolv- 


The  Religions  of  the  Law    171 

ing  itself  into  an  entirely  mechanical  estimation 
of  good  and  bad  works.  The  representation  of 
the  judgment  as  scales  in  which  the  good  and 
evil  deeds  are  weighed  is  widespread  and  popular 
in  all  these  religions.  Life  falls  into  a  series  of 
single  acts  which  can  be  added  up.  There  is  no 
conception  of  religion  as  a  spontaneous  stretch- 
ing forth  towards  God,  or  that  the  good  life, 
as  God  wishes  it,  is  a  unity,  a  whole.  Religion 
becomes  a  business,  a  haggling  and  a  bargaining 
with  God.  The  pious  perform  good  works,  and 
the  good  things  of  the  next  world  are  the  wages 
which  God  pays  the  pious  man,  just  as  the 
labourer  is  given  his  wages.  To  the  Pharisee  in 
the  time  of  Christ  life  was  a  daily  balancing  and 
reckoning  with  God  to  see  whether  there  was 
the  necessary  surplus  of  good  works.  The  lack 
of  good  works  was  compensated  for  by  penances 
and  castigations  of  all  kinds.  The  pious  Persian 
atoned  for  sin  by  a  necessary  number  of  scourg- 
ings,  and  painfully  but  surely  earned  heaven 
for  himself. 

Not  only  at  this  stage  did  the  belief  in  future 
retribution  remain  wedded  to  external  forms, 
but  it  was  also  steeped  in  materialism.  In  all 
three  religions  heaven  and  hell  are  represented 
in  the  most  hateful  and  materialistic  forms.  It 
would  seem  as  if  the  sensuality,  so  strictly 
repressed  in  the  religions  of  the  law,  found  relief 


172         What  is   Religion? 

in  these  ghastly  ideas  of  heaven  and  hell.  Life 
in  heaven  is  nothing  more  than  a  continuation 
of  this  life  in  undisturbed  material  satisfaction, 
a  life  without  sickness  and  trouble,  a  wandering 
through  luxuriant  meadows  and  by  clear  streams, 
a  riot  of  delicious  food  and  drink  and  passionate 
love.  Life  in  hell  is  extreme  physical  torment, 
frost  and  hunger,  and  the  pains  of  fire,  the 
disgusting  worm  and  darkness.  For  the 
especially  wicked  there  are  punishments  which 
only  the  most  corrupt  imagination  could  have 
devised. 

Very  deeply  rooted  are  these  ideas  concerning 
the  future  life  in  the  Zoroastrian  and  Moham- 
medan religions.  Judaism  rose  to  a  more 
spiritual  conception,  to  a  really  moral  and 
religious  comprehension  of  the  belief  in  retri- 
bution, as  we  see  in  many  of  its  eschatological 
forms.  But  when  Judaism  united  to  the 
thought  of  the  eternal  judgment  of  God  its 
own  national  pretensions,  its  hope  of  an  earthly 
triumph  over  all  hostile  people,  it  remained 
stuck  fast  in  its  belief  in  a  material  and  con- 
crete future  life. 

We  must  now  summarise  and  picture  to 
ourselves  once  again  the  innermost  character 
of  these  three  religions.  We  see  everywhere 
a  tendency  from  national  individualism  and 
polytheism  to  universal  monotheism ;  a  striving 


The  Religions  of  the  Law    173 

after  the  things  of  the  spirit ;  an  evolution  from 
custom  to  belief  and  conviction ;  from  the 
worship  in  the  Temple  to  a  spiritual,  Divine 
service ;  from  sacrifice  to  prayer.  But  at  the 
same  time  there  is  everywhere  visible  a  depend- 
ence on  material  things.  Observance  and  law 
triumph,  religion  remains  fettered  to  custom 
and  to  the  nation.  The  true  universal  mono- 
theism does  not  burst  forth,  the  bond  between 
religion  and  morality  seems  frustrated. 

Man  needs  something  united,  something  har- 
monious, in  religion.  He  demands  an  ideal  of 
life,  a  spiritual  good  which  lies  beyond  the 
ordinary  life,  of  a  higher,  more  moral,  kind. 
Everywhere,  however,  we  see  this  striving 
frustrated,  lost  in  the  most  insignificant  trifles, 
stifled  in  outward  observances. 

But  we  must  not  be  unjust  towards  these 
religions  of  transition.  Much  has  been  attained 
— a  certain  freedom  from  national  particularism 
and  polytheism,  a  certain  deliverance  from  out- 
ward forms,  from  temple  and  sacrificial  worship, 
and  new  forms  have  been  created.  The  thought 
that  religion  is  belief,  conviction,  is  beginning 
to  dawn.  At  this  stage  of  religion  we  have 
confession,  the  Holy  Scripture  with  its  de- 
pendent piety,  theology,  a  new  spiritual  form  of 
worship,  systematised  lay  prayers.  Above  all, 
the   powerful  idea    of    future    retribution    has 


174        What  is  Religion  ? 

advanced  to  a  central  position.  The  elements 
and  beginnings  of  a  higher  culture  are  here ; 
they  lie  side  by  side.  Only  a  great  process 
of  deliverance  is  now  required,  and  a  new 
religious  power  which  will  accomplish  this 
process. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  RELIGIONS  OF  REDEMPTION  :  BUDDHA,  PLATO 

WE  must  now  take  into  special  consideration 
two  of  those  great  reform  movements 
which  were  described  in  the  fourth  chapter, 
because  they  led  to  a  peculiar  type  of  religion, 
wholly  opposed  to  the  religions  of  the  law.  At 
the  opposite  poles  to  the  religions  of  the  law 
stand  the  religions  of  redemption,  seen  in  their 
purest  expression  in  Buddhism  (especially  of  the 
later  Indian  religion)  and  Platonism.  As  these 
religions,  in  respect  to  their  purity,  spirituality, 
comprehensiveness,  universalism,  and  freedom 
from  national  and  polytheistic  elements,  repre- 
sent the  highest  conceptions  of  human  religion 
— with  the  exception  of  the  Judaism  of  the 
prophets  and  Christianity — an  attempt  will  be 
made  to  give  a  picture  of  each  of  these  mani- 
festations so  as  to  obtain  an  idea  of  their 
common  characteristics. 

175 


176        What  is   Religion? 

'  To  understand  Buddhism  it  is  necessary  to 
^  penetrate  somewhat  deeply  into  the  history 
of  the  ancient  religion  of  India.  This  ancient 
religion  was  a  national,  polytheistic  reHgion,  the 
religion  of  a  conquering,  magnificent,  warUke 
people,  the  torch-bearers  of  civilisation.  Its 
principal  gods  were  Indra,  the  mighty  god  of 
storm  and  battle,  violent  and  lustful,  and  Varuna, 
the  god  of  heaven — far  superior  in  personal 
worth — the  all-seeing,  who  discovered  the  hidden 
things,  protected  the  just,  punished  and  forgave 
sin.  These  early  people  of  India  already 
possessed  a  collection  of  religious  documents, 
the  Yeda,  the  oldest  part  of  which,  the  hymns 
of  the  Rig-veda,  faithfully  represents  the  fi-esh, 
childlike  faith  of  these  people.  Gradually,  after 
the  conquest  of  Xorth  India  by  the  Arian  race, 
a  great  deterioration  took  place  in  the  people. 
Life  in  this  rich  country  and  the  enervating 
cUmate  produced  an  evil  result.  The  caste 
system,  now  developing,  by  which  an  invincible 
barrier  was  set  up  between,  on  the  one  hand, 
the  victorious  people  and  the  subject  people,  and 
on  the  other  hand,  between  the  governing 
nobility  and  the  other  ranks  of  the  people,  con- 
tributed to  this  deterioration.  It  took  from 
the  lower  classes  every  prospect  of  development 
and  from  the  upper  classes  any  real  power  of 
government.     The   people    of    India    dissipated 


The  Religions  of  Redemption    177 

their  power  in  little  petty  States  without  the 
incentive  given  by  historical  tradition  of  any 
kind.  On  all  sides  we  have  the  same  picture 
of  the  limitations  of  the  petty  State,  of  a  people 
without  a  history. 

It  is,  therefore,  no  wonder  that  among  such 
a  people  the  priesthood  was  exalted,  and  won 
its  position  in  the  highest  caste.  The  priests 
were  the  only  intermediaries  between  the  gods 
and  men  ;  they  usurped  the  sole  right  of  reading 
the  Vedas  and  of  offering  sacrifice.  The  fire- 
god  Agni,  originally  simply  fire,  developed,  as 
god  of  the  priestly  sacrificial  fire,  into  the 
highest  deity  of  the  Hindoos,  side  by  side  with 
Indra  and  Varuna. 

The  passivity  which  is  apparent  now  in 
Indian  civilisation  spread  to  the  religion.  The 
individual  figures  of  the  gods  vanish  more  and 
more,  and  blend  one  into  the  other.  At  one 
moment  one  particular  god  is  endowed  with  all 
god-like  attributes,  and  the  next  these  are  trans- 
ferred to  another.  No  single  figure  of  a  god 
rose  to  commanding  eminence,  as  Zeus  among 
the  Greeks,  Ahura-Mazda  among  the  Persians, 
or  Jehovah  in  ancient  Israel ;  rather  it  may  be 
said  that  out  of  the  concrete  world  of  many 
gods  rose  the  abstract  idea  of  the  Godhead. 
Not  only  did  the  concrete  figures  of  the  gods 
vanish   by  degrees,  but  there   arose   an   extra- 

13 


v 


178         What  is   Religion  ? 

ordinary  confusion  in  religion  between  cause 
and  effect,  between  subject  and  object.  The 
germs  of  this  change  are  seen  in  the  worship 
paid  to  the  sacerdotal  fire  of  sacrifice.  By  a 
peculiar  transfusing  of  the  material  means  of 
worship  and  the  Godhead,  the  sacrificial  fire — 
as  well  as  the  sacrificial  w4ne,  Soma — which, 
according  to  the  priestly  conception,  the  gods 
have  produced,  merges  into  the  Godhead  itself. 
In  the  same  way  Brahma,  the  priestly  prayer, 
the  prayer  which  compels  the  gods,  becomes 
later,  not  merely  the  appointed  prayer  of 
worship,  but  meditation  by  means  of  which 
the  believer  is  absorbed  in  the  Godhead,  and 
finally  it  becomes  the  Godhead  itself. 

In  this  way  the  later  Hindoo  religion  of 
Brahminism  has  developed.  This  orthodox 
Hindoo  religious  system  which  was  now  in 
the  process  of  development  had  two  or  three 
fundamental   principles. 

I.  The  complete  blending  in  religion  of  the 
subject  and  the  object.  The  Godhead  is  com- 
prehended as  the  highest,  most  complete  entity, 
immanent  in  human  life  and  all  other  life, 
the  final  reality  in  the  vastness  of  life  and 
its  phenomena.  "The  man  who  understands 
that  all  creatures  exist  in  God  alone,  and  so 
grasps  the  unity  of  existence,  has  no  sorrow 
and  no  illusion." 


The  Religions  of  Redemption    179 

How  does  the  Brahman  reach  this  highest 
reality  ?  How  does  he  attain  this  certainty  con- 
cerning his  existence?  By  absorption  in  his 
own  ego.  Man  possesses  a  spiritual  life  of  the 
profoundest,  the  soul  of  his  soul.  The  Hindoo 
calls  it  Atman  (breath).  When  the  human  being 
withdraws  from  all  contact  with  the  other 
world  which  is  obtained  through  the  senses, 
when  he  abstains  from  all  desires  and  wishes, 
nay,  from  all  speaking  and  thinking,  absorbing 
himself  completely  in  himself,  then  he  finds  his 
real,  his  innermost,  self.  The  teaching  of  Brah- 
minism  consists  in  this  :  the  highest  God,  the  one 
God,  is  identical  with  the  innermost  self  of  man. 
When  the  human  being  turns  aside  completely 
from  the  material  fact  of  his  ego,  and  his 
personal  life,  and  surrenders  his  ego  entirely, 
he  finds  within  himself  as  the  basis  of  his  being 
the  universal  being  of  the  Godhead.  Brahma  is 
Atman,  Atman  is  Brahma.  The  /  and  the  Thou 
are  extinguished  in  religion.  Two  ways  lead  to 
the  goal  of  this  last  and  highest  recognition. 
First  of  all  there  is  the  way  of  prayer,  of 
meditation,  of  simple,  spiritual,  reflective 
absorption ;  the  other  way  is  the  more  violent 
— the  way  of  asceticism,  penances,  castigations. 
Through  violent  means  of  all  kinds,  through 
scourging  and  torments  must  the  ego  of  the 
human  being  be  killed,  until  in  a  condition  of 


i8o         What  is  Religion? 

dull  stupor  or  highest  exaltation  man  realises 
the  identity  of  the  Divine  and  human  existence. 
II.  The  other  pillar  of  all  Indian  religious 
systems  is  the  doctrine  of  re-incarnation  or 
soul-transmigration.  We  do  not  know  whether 
this  w^as  an  element  of  the  old  Hindoo  religion 
or  whether  it  may  have  originally  belonged  to 
the  barbaric  aborigines  who  were  conquered  by 
the  Indians  ;  in  any  case  it  is  a  relic  of  the 
lowest  type  of  religious  conception.  In  the 
lowest  stage  of  religious  life,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  the  belief  was  widespread  that 
the  human  soul  after  the  death  of  the  human 
being  passed  into  another  living  form,  an 
animal,  a  plant,  another  human  being,  or  even 
into  a  lifeless  object.  This  doctrine  of  the 
transmigration  of  souls  {Samsara)  now  became 
the  central  belief  of  the  Hindoo  religion  ;  it  was 
systematised,  and  through  the  addition  of  a 
new  thought  it  received  a  moral  and  teleological 
direction.  By  means  of  it  the  Hindoo  endeavours 
to  solve  the  mystery  of  his  existence.  He 
asks  himself  why  fortune  and  misfortune  are 
so  unequally  divided  in  this  mortal  life,  and 
why  there  is  so  much  undeserved  misery.  Most 
of  the  great  religions  of  which  we  have  already 
treated  answer  these  questions  by  an  appeal  to 
the  future,  and  believe  in  the  compensation  of 
all  injustice  in  a  future  life,  in  a  Divine  justice 


The  Religions  of  Redemption    i8i 

to  be  revealed  finally.  The  Hindoo  religion,  on 
the  contrary,  casts  its  glance  backwards.  It 
proclaims  that  the  misfortunes  and  sufferings 
of  this  life  are  due  to  the  misdeeds  and  the 
guilt  of  the  individual  in  a  former  life.  To 
each  human  being  is  allotted  the  fate  in  life 
which  he  has  won  for  himself  by  his  conduct 
and  his  actions  in  an  earlier  life.  According 
to  the  Hindoo  conception  this  chain  of  re-incar- 
nation is  interminable.  The  soul-energy  can 
never  be  self -extinguished,  the  present  existence 
is  always  the  cause  of  the  next  one.  The  process 
never  ends.  This  teaching  of  the  transmigration 
of  souls  (Samsara)  and  the  continued  influence 
of  the  deeds  of  the  earlier  life  into  a  later  one 
(Karma)  is  the  second  principle  of  Brahminism. 
III.  Finally,  there  is  a  third  element  in  the 
Hindoo  religion,  which,  however,  can  only  be 
considered  as  in  part  connected  with  belief  in 
Brahma.  I  mean  pessimism.  The  true  real  life 
is  the  life  of  the  one  existence  ;  all  life  apart 
from  this  is  necessarily  incomplete,  all  individual 
existence  is  necessarily  painful.  The  spiritual 
and  mental  condition  of  the  people  of  India 
strengthens  this  disposition  of  mind.  The  Indian, 
as  we  have  already  seen,  knows  no  future 
and  has  no  past.  Life  represents  to  him  the 
coming  and  going  of  the  generations,  a  weary 
game   without  any  object.      He   feels,  through 


1 82         What  is  Religion  ? 

this  belief  in  re-incarnation,  that  he  is  for  ever 
chained  with  iron  links  to  this  miserable  exist- 
ence. Such  a  belief  renders  the  misery  of  indi- 
vidual existence  eternal.  There  is  no  cessation, 
no  rest,  no  death. 

Hence  the  Tvhole  of  religion  and  life  is  con- 
centrated in  one  great  longing  for  release 
from  this  transmigration  of  souls — deliverance 
from  life,  simply  that,  rest  after  eternal,  painful 
wandering. 

The  pre-Buddhist  Vedanta  philosophy  had 
already  discovered  this  deliverance.  It  an- 
nounced that  deliverance  from  the  misery  of 
life  was  to  be  found  in  the  right  recognition 
of  the  unity  of  human  nature  with  the  one 
God,  based  on  the  deepest  foundation,  and  of 
the  necessary  incompleteness  of  all  mortal  life. 
This  knowledge  exercised  a  wonderful  power  ; 
it  took  from  the  individual  existence  its  sub- 
stance, its  power  of  re-incarnation.  The  wise 
man  who  recognised  this  passed  after  death  to 
a  state  of  absolute  rest. 

Besides  the  orthodox  Vedanta  philosophy,  the 
systematic  philosophy  based  on  the  Vedas,  there 
were  numerous  other  systems,  especially  the 
system  of  the  Sankhya  philosophy.  Their 
adherents  already  denied  the  one  essential 
principle  of  the  Hindoo  religion,  the  existence 
of    the    one    Divine    being.      They   upheld    the 


The  Religions  of  Redemption     183 

atomic  theory,  and  believed  that  the  world 
consisted  of  a  multitude  of  closely  connected 
beings.  We  find  here,  however,  the  two  other 
pillars  of  the  Hindoo  religion,  belief  in  re- 
incarnation and  in  pessimism.  Redemption  is 
accomplished  by  correct  perception.  Whoever 
recognises  that  body  and  soul  have  nothing  in 
common  with  one  another  is  thereby  raised 
above  all  earthly  misery.  For  as  all  the  suffer- 
ing of  life  only  concerns  the  bodily  existence  of 
man,  it  is  a  mistake  to  believe  that  the  inner- 
most being  of  man,  his  soul,  can  be  in  any  Tvay 
affected  by  it.  Thus  in  certain  points,  perhaps, 
there  may  be  said  to  be  a  connection  between 
Buddhism  and  the  Sankhya  philosophy,  and 
so  a  comprehension  of  this  element  of  pre- 
Buddhistic  religious  life  is  necessary. 

I  have  given  here  the  main  outline  of  the 
Hindoo  religion  before  Buddha,  but  the  outline 
only.  To  complete  the  picture  we  must  add 
that  these  religious  ideas,  originally  fairly 
simple  and  comprehensible,  were  obstructed  by 
a  mass  of  rubbish  and  a  chaos  of  external 
matters.  Yet  the  ancient  Hindoo  books  of 
religion,  the  Vedas,  are  still  current.  In 
its  would-be  learned  method  of  exposition — 
troubling  very  little  about  the  true  meaning — 
the  new  doctrines  apparently  derived  something 
from  the  ancient  holy  book,  which  rested  on  a 


184        what  is   Religion? 

quite  different  religious  foundation  ;  the  priest 
caste  with  all  its  privileges  remained,  religion 
still  kept  its  old  formal,  unintelligible,  stagnant 
worship.  The  comparatively  simple  principles 
of  the  Hindoo  religion  of  redemption  were  over- 
grown with  widespread,  complex  speculations  of 
all  kinds — speculation  as  to  how  the  finite  pro- 
ceeded from  the  One  God,  speculation  concerning 
the  nature  of  man  and  his  attributes,  specula- 
tion concerning  the  laws  of  the  transmigration 
of  souls.  The  belief  in  redemption  was  com- 
bined, as  has  already  been  mentioned,  with 
strong  ascetic  tendencies.  The  human  being 
sought  to  extort  redemption  by  the  most  ex- 
traordinary external  means,  by  terrible  acts  of 
renunciation  and  penance.  This  endeavour  was 
already  organised :  the  caste  of  the  ascetics 
stood  side  by  side  with  the  caste  of  the  priests. 
And  now  Buddha  and  the  Buddhistic  reforms 
appear  in  the  religious  history  of  the  Indian 
people.  Buddha  thus  became  the  founder  of  a 
world-religion ;  it  was  Buddhism  and  not  Brah- 
manism  that  first  overstepped  the  boundaries  of 
the  Indian  people.  Upon  what  does  the  mystery 
of  Buddha's  success  rest  ?  It  is  not  easy  to  dis- 
cover. People  have  sought  to  discover  it  in 
various  things.  Buddha  has  been  honoured  as, 
above  all  else,  the  social  reformer  who  abolished 
the  Indian  caste  system.     This  is  by  no  means 


The  Religions  of  Redemption    185 

correct.  Again,  people  have  sought  to  see  in 
its  principle  of  universalism  the  peculiar  cha- 
racteristic of  the  Buddhist  religion ;  and  lastly, 
every  attempt  to  find  anything  peculiar  in  his 
doctrine  and  his  religion  has  been  abandoned 
in  favour  of  explaining  the  mystery  by  his 
extraordinary  personality.  This  last  view  is, 
to  a  certain  extent,  the  true  one.  In  the  person 
of  Buddha  the  religion  of  Buddhism  was  con- 
centrated. In  no  other  religion,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Christianity,  has  a  single  personality 
won  such  a  lasting  importance  as  in  Buddhism, 
which  to  a  large  extent  rests  on  this  fact. 

Gautama  Buddha,  the  son  of  a  petty  Indian 
prince  in  Kapilavastu  (130  miles  N.E.  of  Benares), 
was  born  in  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century 
before  Christ.  He  did  not  belong  to  the  priest- 
caste,  but  to  the  Tvarrior-caste.  In  his  twenty- 
ninth  year  he  was  converted.  He  completed  his 
work  of  the  "  Great  Renunciation,"  as  it  is 
called  in  the  Indian  stories,  left  wife  and  child, 
and  went  forth  into  the  wide  world.  After  long 
wanderings  and  vain  exertions,  the  decisive  hour 
of  revelation  came  to  him,  and  from  that  time 
Buddha  believed  in  his  mission  as  redeemer  of 
the  ^vorld.  His  first  sermon  was  given  in 
Benares  to  five  former  schoolfellows,  and  soon 
he  had  sixty  disciples  gathered  around  him.  He 
now  organised   his   followers  into   an  order  of 


1 86         What  is  Religion? 

wandering,  begging  monks.  He  succeeded  in 
gaining  as  his  friend  and  patron  one  of  the 
most  powerful  princes,  the  Prince  of  Magadha, 
who  assigned  to  him  and  his  friends  a  bamboo 
grove  near  his  chief  town  as  a  dwelHng-place  in 
the  rainy  season.  The  reformer's  calling  and  repu- 
tation were  now  secure.  His  life  was  uniformly 
divided  between  travelling,  preaching,  and 
begging.  Every  year  during  the  rainy  season 
he  gathered  together  his  disciples  for  intimate 
personal  intercourse.  Surrounded  by  his  dis- 
ciples, Buddha  died  in  his  eightieth  year.  His 
order  of  monks  spread  over  the  whole  of  the 
Eastern  world. 

Great  indeed  is  the  significance  of  the  person 
of  the  founder  of  the  Buddhist  religion.  Stories 
of  his  life,  which  the  legends  soon  adorned  in 
the  most  wonderful  manner,  form  a  large  part 
of  the  sacred  literature.  The  sacred  books  are 
full  of  his  sayings,  a  certain  number  of  which 
are  probably  faithfully  transmitted  to  us.  Even 
though  overladen  with  the  dust  of  tradition,  the 
portrait  of  his  personality  rises  clear  before  us. 
From  many  little  scenes  we  recognise  very 
clearly  what  a  strong  personal  impression 
Buddha  made  upon  his  disciples.  Thus  the 
earliest  of  his  disciples,  Sunita,  relates  the 
following :  *'  Of  humble  birth  was  I  sprung ;  I 
was  poor  and  needy.     Mean  was  the  work  that 


The  Religions  of  Redemption    187 

I  did,  that  of  removing  the  withered  flowers. 
I  was  despised  of  men,  accounted  of  little  worth, 
often  rebuked.  .  .  .  Then  one  day  I  saw  Buddha 
with  his  monks,  when  he,  the  great  hero, 
entered  the  important  town  of  Magadha.  Then 
I  put  on  one  side  my  labour,  and  stepped  up 
to  him  to  bow  before  him  in  all  reverence, 
and  cast  myself  at  the  Master's  feet,  and  came 
up  to  him  and  entreated  him,  the  highest  among 
all  beings,  to  accept  me  as  a  monk.  Then  the 
most  gracious  Master  spoke  unto  me :  '  Come 
unto  me,  oh  monk.'  This  was  the  consecration 
which  I  received." 

Yet  the  value  of  Buddha's  person  in  true 
Buddhism  has  its  definite  limitations  (we  put 
on  one  side  the  deification  of  Buddha  at  a  later 
period).  The  ideal  of  deliverance,  which  is  the 
peculiar  characteristic  of  the  Buddhist  religion, 
delivers  the  individual  believer  from  the  person 
of  the  Master  as  from  all  else.  The  monk  who 
is  penetrated  through  and  through  with  the 
ideal  of  eternal  rest  casts  far  behind  him  the 
person  and  the  society  of  the  Master.  Buddha 
teaches  the  individual  to  be  his  own  redeemer. 
Shortly  before  his  death  Buddha  himself  is  said 
to  have  expressed  his  views  in  this  matter  most 
decisively  to  his  disciple  Ananda  : 

"  It  may  be  that  you  think  that  the  Word  has 
lost  its  Master,  and  that  you  have  now  no  longer 


1 88        What  is  Religion? 

a  Master.  But  you  must  not  feel  like  that, 
Ananda.  The  doctrine  and  the  system  which 
I  have  taught  and  revealed  to  you — these  will 
be  your  masters  when  I  have  passed  away." 

We  must  not,  therefore,  seek  for  the  mystery 
of  his  world-wide  success  in  the  person  of 
Buddha  alone ;  it  is  to  some  extent  based  on 
the  nature  of  his  teaching.  The  mystery  of 
his  teaching  rests,  as  in  many  other  cases, 
on  its  simplicity.  Out  of  the  confused  mass 
of  complicated  phenomena  a  simplified  whole 
was  created  which  was  comprehended  in  a 
few  short  sentences. 

Buddha  at  the  very  first  cast  on  one  side  all 
custom  and  pious  tradition.  For  him  and  his 
disciples  the  authority  of  the  Veda,  the  ancient 
national  sacred  repository,  and  its  world  of 
many  gods  no  longer  existed.  And  with  this 
ancient  religious  book  there  passed  away  the 
whole  artificial  system  of  theology  built  up 
upon  the  Veda,  all  those  interpretations  and 
artificial  explanations  with  which  the  sacred 
writings  were  saddled.  The  whole  sacrificial 
worship  based  on  the  Vedas  came  to  an  end, 
as  well  as  the  priesthood  and  its  privileges,  and, 
so  far  as  the  Buddhist  monk  was  concerned,  the 
caste  system  of  the  Hindoo. 

And  much  more  even  than  this  passed  away. 
Buddha   would   have   nothing   to   do   with   two 


The  Religions  of  Redemption    189 

things  which  characterised  the  last  phase  of  the 
Hindoo  religion — learned  speculative  theories 
and  exaggerated  asceticism.  The  story  of 
Buddha's  conversion  is  extraordinarily  instruc- 
tive in  connection  with  this.  When,  after  the 
renunciation  of  his  wife  and  child,  Gautama 
v^ent  forth  into  the  world  to  find  redemption, 
he  listened  first  of  all  to  the  discourses  of  two 
wise  Brahmans,  but  he  soon  perceived  he  had 
nothing  to  learn  from  them,  and  so  continued 
his  journey.  With  five  of  his  companions  who 
had  already  joined  him  he  applied  himself  to 
the  most  severe  penances ;  but  he  found  no 
peace  for  his  mind  in  these  things,  and  after 
he  had  on  one  occasion  sunk  down  by  their 
side  half  dead  with  exhaustion,  he  turned  away 
from  them,  composed  and  resolute,  and  con- 
tinued his  pilgrimage  alone,  an  apostate  in 
the  eyes  of  his  companions. 

He  did  not  find  his  stopping-place  in  philo- 
sophic speculations  nor  in  ascetic  practices, 
but  simply  in  practical  religious  perception  and 
in  acts  corresponding  to  this  perception.  From 
this  time  forward  Buddha  was  deeply  impressed 
with  a  sense  of  the  insecurity,  insufficiency  and 
superfluity  of  all  pure  knowledge.  He  made 
this  clear  to  his  disciples  by  a  comparison :  one 
day  in  a  wood  he  took  up  a  few  leaves  in  his 
hand,  and  told  them  that  whatever  knowledge 


s/ 


I  go        What  is  Religion  ? 

he  had  revealed  to  them  was  as  those  leaves 
compared  with  the  whole  forest.  "And  why, 
my  disciples,  do  you  think  I  have  not  revealed 
more  to  you?  Because,  oh  my  disciples,  know- 
ledge brings  no  profit  to  you,  because  it  does 
not  advance  you  in  holiness ;  it  does  not  lead 
to  the  renunciation  of  earthly  things,  to  the 
suppression  of  lust,  to  the  renunciation  of 
the  transitory,  to  peace,  to  understanding,  to 
enlightenment  or  to  Nirvana.  Therefore  I  have 
only  revealed  to  you  but  a  little." 

He  only  revealed  to  his  disciples  what  was 
of  benefit  to  mankind,  and  what  was  of  direct 
practical  interest — the  doctrine  of  suffering  and 
the  deliverance  from  suffering.  Everything 
outside  this  was  superfluous  and  injurious.  To 
the  list  of  unnecessary  questions  belonged  those 
concerning  the  final  unity  of  the  world,  the  final 
perfected  existence  and  its  relation  to  the  in- 
dividual life — that  is  to  say,  all  questions  con- 
cerning God,  the  nature  of  man,  the  concrete 
existence  of  the  soul,  the  survival  of  the  ego 
after  death,  the  more  positive  or  purely  negative 
idea  of  the  condition  of  eternal  rest  {Nirvana). 

In  all  these  things  he  appears  as  the  complete 
sceptic.  He  answers  questions  with  both  yes 
and  no,  he  purposely  admits  possibilities  on  both 
sides.  In  certain  important  points,  indeed,  he 
was   in   conflict  with  the  current  dogmas,  and 


The  Religions  of  Redemption    igi 

was  no  longer  merely  a  sceptic.  His  scepticism 
reached  to  absolute  denial.  Thus  he  cate- 
gorically denies  the  unity  and  concrete  form 
of  the  last  stage  of  being,  and  hence  Buddha 
preached  a  religion  unconnected  with  the 
thoughts  of  God.  He  also  denies  the  existence 
of  the  unity  of  the  soul.  To  him  the  ego  is 
a  conglomeration  of  different  conditions  and 
activities  which  have  been  thrown  together  by 
chance  for  the  sake  of  a  common  work. 

The  simplicity  and  limitations  of  his  thought 
are  seen  in  the  fact  that  he  preserved  the  teach- 
ing of  the  Samsara  and  Karma ;  that  is  to  say, 
he  retained,  not  only  the  doctrine  of  re-incarna- 
tion, but  also  the  belief  that  the  individual  life, 
so  far  as  its  nature  and  destiny  are  concerned, 
is  dependent  on  the  deeds  of  an  earlier  existence. 
It  is  not  to  our  purpose  here  to  show  with  what 
specious  arguments  the  later  Buddhist  theology 
attempted  to  disregard  the  fatal  contradiction 
that  is  here  implied,  and  to  solve  the  problem  of 
how  the  earlier  existence  can  possibly  influence 
the  later  one  if  the  soul  has  no  concrete  reality 
— in  short,  it  tries  to  show  how  a  soul  which  has 
no  existence  can  be  re-incarnated.  We  only 
want  to  comprehend  all  this  in  order  to  under- 
stand the  peculiar  characteristics  of  Buddha. 
His  strength  does  not  lie  in  the  region  of  specu- 
lation ;  he  passes  by  it  as  much  as  possible.     Yet 


192         what  is  Religion  ? 

he  cannot  entirely  leave  it  on  one  side,  for 
his  religious  capacity  is  not  sufficient  for  this. 
Thus  his  religion  has,  unfortunately,  remained 
a  conglomeration  of  profound  personal  religious 
experience,  and  only  half  complete  philosophic 
speculation. 

But  we  must  follow  Buddha  into  his  true 
province,  the  really  practical  side  of  his  religion. 
Here  we  meet  with  sayings  of  a  highly  simple 
and  practical  nature,  easily  comprehended. 
Even  in  his  earliest  preaching  at  Benares 
Buddha  formulated  his  teaching  with  unequalled 
simplicity  and  precision.  He  announced  the 
four  holy  verities  of  suffering.  The  first  saying 
runs  thus : 

"This,  oh  ye  monks,  is  the  holy  verity  of 
suffering.  Birth  is  suffering,  old  age  is  suffer- 
ing, illness  is  suffering,  death  is  suffering ;  to 
be  united  with  an  unloved  one  is  suffering ;  to 
be  separated  from  the  beloved  one  is  suffering ; 
not  to  obtain  what  one  desires  is  suffering ;  in 
fact,  the  five-fold  chain  which  binds  us  to  the 
earth  is  suffering." 

The  preaching  of  Buddha  begins  with  the 
great  song  that  all  life  is  suffering  ;  he  fixes  his 
glance  firmly  on  this  side  of  life,  and  sees  this 
only.  He,  like  his  people,  knew  no  future,  no 
progress,  no  striving  upwards,  no  bitter  conflict. 
Very  far  from  him  was  the  thought  that  suffer- 


The  Religions  of  Redemption    193 

ing  produces  patience  and  engenders  heroism, 
and  that  suffering  may  signify  triumph  and  a 
higher  life.  The  Buddha  legend  relates  how, 
after  the  conversion  of  Buddha,  he  met  an  old 
man,  a  sick  man,  a  putrefying  corpse,  and  a 
venerable  monk.  "  Birth  is  suffering,  old  age  is 
suffering,  death  is  suffering."  It  is  noticeable 
how  little  the  root  idea  of  Buddha's,  "  Life  is 
suffering,"  has  spread.  The  division  between 
the  will  and  the  power,  the  struggle  of  the 
senses  against  our  better  judgment,  the  falling 
below  the  moral  ideal — none  of  all  this  comes 
within  the  horizon  of  Buddha.  He  sees  only 
the  earthly  life,  and  that  life  is  suffering.  Both 
he  and  his  followers  displayed  true  genius  in  the 
promulgation  of  this  simple  principle.  The  song 
of  the  suffering  of  life  appears  here  illumined  by 
the  whole  magic  of  its  attractive,  ensnaring 
beauty. 

"Man  gathers  flowers,  he  yearns  after  plea- 
sure. As  a  flood  sweeps  over  a  village  by 
night,  so  death  comes  upon  him  and  carries 
him  away." 

"Man  gathers  flowers,  he  yearns  after  plea- 
sure. The  destroyer  forces  the  insatiable  seeker 
after  knowledge  into  his  power." 

"  Not  in  the  domain  of  pleasure,  not  in  the 
depth  of  the  sea,  not  even  in  the  very  heart  of 
the  mountain,  wilt  thou  find  on  earth  the  place 

U 


194        What  is  Religion  ? 

where  the  mighty  power  of  death  may  not  seize 
you." 

"Sorrow  is  born  from  joy,  and  from  joy 
Cometh  fear.  He  who  is  delivered  from  joy  is 
delivered  from  sorrow,  for  whence  should 
come  fear  ?  " 

Buddha  will  deliver  the  world  from  this 
universal  suffering.  His  sermon  at  Benares 
begins  with  the  cry,  "Listen,  oh  ye  monks, 
deKverance  from  death  has  been  found."  The 
way  of  deliverance  leads  to  the  question  con- 
cerning the  origin  of  suffering.  The  second 
article  of  his  creed  runs : 

"  This,  ye  monks,  is  the  sacred  truth  of  the 
origin  of  pain.  It  is  the  desire  for  life  which 
leads  from  re-incarnation  to  re-incarnation  .  .  . 
the  desire  for  pleasures,  the  desire  for  develop- 
ment, the  desire  for  power." 

To  the  question  concerning  the  cause  of  suffer- 
ing Buddhism  gives  a  very  simple  answer,  with 
which  we  are  already  familiar.  The  cause  is  the 
V  desire  for  existence,  for  individual  existence. 
This  longing  not  only  penetrates  into  the  sorrow 
of  this  life,  but  it  affects  also  the  re-incarnation 
in  a  later  life.  It  links  the  individual  existence 
for  ever  to  this  existence  full  of  sorrow.  It 
is  clearly  seen  how  this  second  principle  of 
Buddhism  is  closely  connected  with  the  doctrine 
of  re-incarnation,  the  origin  and  extent  of 
which  have  been  already  noted. 


The  Religions  of  Redemption    195 

The  third  and  fourth  principle  follow  quite 
naturally  from  the  first  two.  If  the  desire  for 
existence  is  the  cause  of  all  suffering,  then  there 
can  be  only  one  way  out  of  this  suffering.  The 
third  verity  says : 

"This,  oh  you  monks,  is  the  sacred  verity 
concerning  the  abolition  of  suffering.  This 
passionate  longing  for  existence  can  only  be 
quenched  by  the  absolute  annihilation  of  all 
desires,  by  casting  them  away,  by  renunciation, 
by  releasing  oneself  from  them,  by  giving  them 
no  quarter." 

The  question  as  to  how  this  deliverance  takes 
place  is  answered  by  the  fourth  principle :  "  By 
means  of  this  holy  eightfold  path,  which  is 
made  up  of  right  belief,  right  resolution,  right 
speech,  right  deeds,  a  right  life,  right  striving, 
right  self -absorption." 

In  spite  of  all  the  wealth  of  language  in 
this  description  of  the  road  the  most  important 
point  is  not  given,  for  it  lies  in  what  is  not 
named  here.  The  essential  thing  is  purely 
inward  and  spiritual ;  there  are  no  sacrifice,  no 
ceremonial  acts  of  worship,  no  penances,  and  no 
severe  ascetism,  only  clear  perception  and  its 
corresponding  practical  activity,  which  lead  to 
the  desired  goal. 

And  what  then  is  this  desired  goal  ?  For  the 
true  Buddhist  this  is  all  summed  up  in  the  word 


196        What  is  Religion  ? 

Nirvana^  eternal  rest.  When  the  desire  for  life 
is  extinguished,  Karma,  the  strong  impulse 
which  makes  for  re-incarnation,  is  also  extin- 
guished. Delivered  from  life,  the  believer 
attains  after  death — sometimes,  indeed,  before 
death — perfect  peace.  Is  this  Nirvana  after 
death  to  be  regarded  more  as  positive  blessed- 
ness than  as  purely  negative,  the  mere  cessation 
of  life  ?  Buddha  avoids  giving  any  answer  to 
this  question :  it  belongs  to  the  category  of 
things  of  little  value.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the 
Buddhist  believer  in  the  doctrine  of  Nirvana  is 
able  to  rise  to  a  free,  unconstrained  frame  of 
mind,  full  of  joyous  confidence. 

"  We  live  most  joyously,  without  enemies  in  a 
world  full  of  enmity ;  among  hostile  beings  we 
tarry  without  hostility." 

"  Joyously  we  live  healthily  among  the  sick  ; 
among  sick  men  we  tarry  without  sickness." 

"  Joyously  we  who  possess  nothing  live.  Joy 
is  our  food,  like  that  of  the  light-giving  gods  ! " 

"  The  monk  who  tarries  in  solitary  places, 
whose  soul  is  full  of  peace,  enjoys  supreme 
felicity  and  beholds  the  absolute  truth." 

The  whole  Buddhist  religion  is  revealed  in 
these  simple  sayings  and  maxims.  But  we 
must  now  more  closely  examine  the  meaning 
of  '•  right  activity,"  '*  right  life,"  to  which  the 
fourth    verity    refers.      The     monastic    life    is 


The  Religions  of  Redemption    197 

the  logical  outcome  of  true  Buddhist  belief; 
the  devout  follower  of  Buddha  becomes  a 
monk.  He  forsakes  his  parents,  his  wife,  his 
child,  and  all  his  possessions.  He  acknow- 
ledges the  sacred  trinity  of  Buddha,  doctrine, 
and  the  community,  that  is  to  say,  the  monastic 
community.  He  takes  as  his  symbol  the  yellow 
garb  of  penance  and  the  beggar's  wallet,  and 
thus,  without  a  home,  he  wanders  from  place 
to  place,  modest,  calm,  an  unobtrusive  ex- 
ample to  all  of  true  living.  During  the  three 
months  of  rain  the  Buddhist  monks  assemble 
for  intimate  intercourse  and  pious  meditation, 
all  secular  work  being  put  on  one  side. 
Spiritual  practices,  the  recitation  of  holy  say- 
ings, religious  dogma,  spiritual  conversation, 
meditations,  journeyings,  and  begging  fill 
their  lives.  By  the  side  of  the  organised 
monasticism,  the  followers  of  Buddha  and  his 
doctrines  who  could  not  resolve  to  become 
monks  or  were  hindered  from  so  doing, 
formed  as  it  were  a  lay  order.  Remaining  in 
the  world,  they  yet  acted  up  to  their  con- 
victions by  occupying  themselves  in  practical 
benevolence  on  behalf  of  the  monks.  Yet — 
and  this  is  very  important — the  true  believer 
and  pious  man  is  according  to  Buddhism  the 
monk  alone.  He  alone  attains  Nirvana^  eternal 
rest.      The   layman   is   certainly   on    the    right 


1 9  8         What  is  Religion  ? 

road   thither ;    he    may   hope    in    another    life 
to  become  a  monk  and  so  attain  Nirvana. 

It  is  here,  in  the  community  of  monks  and 
its  passionate  desire  for  conversion,  that  the 
real  moral  power  of  Buddhism  lies,  if  we  con- 
sider the  question  of  moral  power  a  little  more 
closely.  It  is  characteristic  that  in  the  legends 
of  Buddha  it  is  related  how  at  the  decisive 
moment  when  he  began  his  work  he  victoriously 
overcame  in  battle  with  the  Evil  One  the 
temptation  offered  by  his  suggestion  that  when 
he  had  found  deliverance  in  Nirvana  he  should 
immediately  go  thither  himself  without  announc- 
ing it  to  the  world.  Buddha,  out  of  love  for 
unredeemed  humanity,  overcame  his  own 
personal  need  of  rest  and  his  fear  of  the 
troubles  and  sufferings  of  a  missionary  who 
announces  a  new  truth.  Sympathy  with  the 
misery  of  the  world  was  a  powerful  impulse 
in  him,  and  so  sympathy  forms  the  foundation 
of  all  Buddhist  morality.  He  impressed  his 
community  of  monks  very  thoroughly  with 
this  idea,  in  direct  opposition  to  the  Brahman 
priesthood.  The  Brahmanical  priest  and  wise 
man,  in  his  utter  self-sufficiency,  is  quite  content 
to  have  the  higher  life  for  himself  and  his 
own  caste.  The  scholar  absorbs  himself  in  his 
speculations,  the  penitent  in  his  deeds  of  virtue, 
both  quite  apart  from  the  common  herd.     The 


The  Religions  of  Redemption    199 

adherents  of  Buddha  spread  the  religious  life, 
such  as  they  possessed,  far  beyond  the  limits 
of  caste,  far  beyond  the  people  of  India.  With 
the  joyous  cry  that  they  had  found  deliverance 
they  wandered  over  the  wide  world.  Buddhism 
developed  into  a  world-mission.  Far  in  the  West, 
even  into  the  Greek  world,  did  the  Buddhist 
monks  wander ;  in  the  east  and  north  of  India, 
in  Tibet,  China,  Japan,  Further  India,  and 
beyond,  has  Buddhism  planted  itself  firmly.  It 
is  still  to-day  a  world-religion. 

Herein  lies  the  moral  strength  of  Buddhism. 
Less  valuable  is  its  practical  teaching  concerning 
the  morality  of   the  world ;   yet  here  it  shows 
in  many  particulars  a  wide  and  liberal  compre- 
hension  of  morality.     It  is  accepted   as  a  fact 
that   in   the   first   centuries    after    the    rise    of 
Buddhism   the   life   of   the   people   of   India,  as 
a    whole,    made    fresh    progress.      Once    again 
they  had  a  history.     But  it   has   not  yet  been 
clearly  shown  whether  the  rise  of  the  Buddhist 
religion  is  not  merely  one  phenomenon  of  this 
universal   progress,  rather   than   its   cause  and 
origin.     Nor  is  it  quite  certain  how  far  it  was 
influenced    by   the  Grreek    culture,    which    was 
beginning  to  have  its   effects   in   the   countries 
bordering  on  India  and  beyond.     However  this 
or  that  may  be,  this  advance  did  not  last  long. 
The    work    of     the    world     and    the    morality 


200         What  is   Religion  ? 

developed  from  it  lies  only  on  the  outside 
of  Buddhism.  All  this  is  regarded,  as  it  were, 
as  subordinate,  the  central  idea  and  the  final 
object  remaining  "flight  from  the  world." 
Thus  in  attracting  constantly  the  best  and 
most  profound  minds,  in  calling  away  from 
the  Tvork  of  the  world  those  who  are  striving 
upwards  and  aspiring  to  the  higher  life,  by 
showing  them  the  gate  of  deliverance,  Bud- 
dhism has  contributed  at  the  same  time  to 
stagnation ;  for  wherever  it  is  the  dominating 
religion  civilisation  and  morality  have  stood 
still,  have  remained  in  a  state  of  torpor  and 
sunk  deeper  and  deeper  into  spiritual  death. 
In  conclusion,  it  must  be  remembered,  as  has 
been  already  stated,  that  Buddhism  is  monach- 
ism,  and  in  its  essential  nature  only 
monachism.  Tradition  says  that  when  Buddha 
had  a  son  born  to  him  he  cried  out :  "  This 
is  a  new  and  strong  link  which  I  shall  have 
to  break ! " 

Before  we  proceed  to  consider  the  essential 
character  of  the  somewhat  narrow  religion 
of  redemption,  it  will  be  well  to  compare 
with  the  Buddhist  religion  a  phenomenon 
related  to  it  in  many  important  points.  I 
refer  to  Plato  and  the  attitude  of  the  later 
Hellenic     cultured     world,    so    far    as    it    was 


The  Religions  of  Redemption    201 

religious,  which  stands  in  close  relation  to  the 
philosopher. 

The  period  of  the  Persian  wars  signified  to 
the  Greeks,  not  only  a  national  revival,  but  a 
religious  one  likewise. 

Firmly  believing  in  the  old  gods,  the  Greeks 
had  preserved  their  freedom  and  their  domina- 
tion in  face  of  the  mighty  advance  of  Persian 
rule.     The  old  gods  were   still  living,   belief  in 
them  underwent  a  rebirth,  and  flourished  anew 
in  purified  beauty.     The  contemporary  tragedies 
of  j^schylus  are  penetrated  by  a  deep  religious 
feeling.     The  gods  are  more  than  mortals,  whose 
arrogance  they  humiliate.     "  Zeus,  in  glorifying 
thee   in   songs  of  praise  there  is  peace   for   all 
men."     But,  on  the  other  hand,  from  this  time 
onwards   the   elements   of   disintegration   more 
and   more    affected    the    old    Hellenic    culture. 
The   civilisations   of   the  various  peoples    came 
in   contact  with   one   another.     In  the   leading 
town    of    Athens,     during    the    course    of    the 
Persian  wars,  the  democratic  element  conquered 
the  agrarian  and  conservative  elements.    Instead 
of  a  power  resting   on  a  territorial   army  and 
a  territorial  aristocracy,  Athens  became  a  com- 
mercial   and    naval    town    of    the    first    rank, 
which  won    the    mastery  at  sea  and  in   inter- 
national trade.     This  marks  progress.     But  this 
new  world-civilisation  of  Athens,  ever  striving 


202        What  is  Religion  ? 

upwards,  cast  on  one  side  all  the  fetters  of 
custom  and  usage,  even  those  of  religious 
custom  and  religious  usage.  Peripatetic 
philosophers,  world-wide  travellers,  announced 
that  all  things  that  had  hitherto  been  considered 
the  very  foundations  of  common  life  were  only 
chance  happenings,  mere  examples  of  human 
arbitrariness  and  habit.  We  can  trace  the 
decay  of  the  old  religious  strength  step  by 
step  if  we  compare  the  dramas  of  ^schylus, 
Sophocles,  and  Euripides.  The  greatness  of  the 
Periclean  period  was  followed  by  a  swift  down- 
fall of  the  Athenian  power.  Minds  of  the  second 
rank  more  and  more  played  a  leading  part 
in  the  common  life,  now  robbed  of  its  great 
features  and  inspiration.  The  more  capable 
men  no  longer  found  scope  for  their  influence 
in  the  conditions  of  life,  ever  becoming  more 
circumscribed  and  limited.  It  was  a  period  of 
sad  resignation,  of  hesitation,  and  doubt.  The 
foundations  of  the  common  life  began  to 
totter,  new  ones  had  not  yet  been  found. 
The  mass  of  the  people,  as  well  as  a  con- 
siderable number  of  superior  minds,  clung  to 
the  old  beliefs  in  the  gods,  in  whom  in  their 
innermost  souls,  however,  they  no  longer 
trusted. 

Thus  the   best   men  retired  from   public  life. 
They  carried  with  them  the  ruins  of  a  worn-out 


The  Religions  of  Redemption    203 

but  beautiful  world,  from  which  they  hoped 
to  create  a  new  and  better  one. 

Socrates  sought  to  place  human  life,  as  lived 
in  societies,  once  more  on  a  firm  foundation 
by  basing  it  on  reason,  the  principles  of  which 
are  demonstrable  and  may  be  taught.  We 
have  already  ventured  to  call  Plato  the  religious 
reformer  of  Greece,  although,  it  is  true,  his 
life's  work  consisted  of  many  interests.  Re- 
ligion was  not  to  him  the  one  and  only  interest, 
but  still  he  regarded  it  as  the  keystone  and 
crown  of  the  whole  intellectual  edifice  which 
he  built  up. 

We  must  examine  a  little  more  closely  the 
life  and  ideas  of  this  Platonic  society.  A 
little  band  of  earnest  men,  who  first 
gathered  round  Socrates  and  then  round  Plato, 
stood  in  sharp  and  ever-growing  opposition 
to  the  public  life  of  the  majority.  They  could 
find  no  place  for  themselves  in  public  life,  with 
its  narrowness,  limitations,  and  restricted 
conditions,  and  so  they  withdrew  into  private 
life.  For  them  the  whole  of  the  outside  world — 
happily  only  in  theory — with  its  rules  and 
regulations  had  lost  all  validity,  and  they 
constructed  for  themselves,  with  bold  and 
fantastic  idealism,  a  State  as  it  ought  to  be. 

Here  we  find  the  main  characteristic  of  the 
Platonic  view  of  the  world.     This  is  the  most 


204        what  is  Religion  ? 

profound  pessimism  and  the  deepest  resigna- 
tion towards  the  concrete  world  of  experience, 
the  absolute  conviction  of  the  necessary 
imperfection  and  slight  value  of  the  whole 
world  subject  to  this  experience  of  the  senses. 
But  where  is  this  better  world  by  which  this 
empirical  world  may  be  measured  ?  "  It  is 
here,"  answered  Plato  and  his  followers,  "  here, 
in  the  thought  of  the  wise  man ;  not  in  the 
irrational,  arbitrary,  fantastic  imagination,  but 
in  the  thought  conformable  to  reason  and  law, 
in  the  thought  of  the  idea.  The  thought  of 
the  wise  man  is  a  faithful  reflection  of  the 
real,  true  world,  the  world  which  alone  exists, 
which  is  not  to  be  seen  with  the  bodily  eye,  but 
with  the  eye  of  the  spirit." 

True  and  noble  existence  belongs  to  this 
world  of  ideas  alone.  The  world  of  sensual 
experience  is  only  a  weak,  imperfect  picture 
of  the  perfect  ideal  world,  a  combination  of 
light  and  darkness,  a  representation  of  the 
pure  idea  in  an  incomplete  material  form. 

This,  the  main  idea  of  Plato's  philosophy, 
is  also  his  religious  conviction.  For  the  exalta- 
tion of  the  wise  man  into  the  world  of  ideas  is, 
in  accordance  with  its  deepest  meaning,  a 
religious  act ;  the  idea  which  lifts  the  wise  man 
into  this  higher  and  true  world  is  religious 
inspiration.     It    is   Divine    madness,    holy    en- 


The  Religions  of  Redemption    205 

thusiasm,  so  called  by  Plato,  who  was  inclined  to 
the  purified  and  refined  form  o£  Orphic  ecstatic 
piety,  then  very  widespread.  It  is  heavenly 
love,  the  heavenly  Eros,  the  beautiful  mother 
of  earthly  love,  which  lifts  the  wise  man  up 
into  the  higher,  more  beautiful,  world.  Only 
these  powers  could  give  to  human  reason  wings 
to  soar  into  the  luminous  world  of  ideas. 
And  this  world  of  ideas  is  the  world  of  the 
gods,  of  the  Godhead.  The  highest  idea  is 
the  idea  of  the  good,  perfect,  Divine  Being. 

How  does  it  happen  that  the  earthly  being, 
man,  bound  by  his  earthly  fetters,  can  yet 
strive  upwards,  far  beyond  his  earthly  existence, 
and  reach  a  heavenly  world?  Man  is  a  being 
of  a  dual,  nay,  a  threefold  or  even  a  fourfold, 
nature.  He  consists  of  body  and  soul,  and 
the  soul,  again,  consists  of  two  or  three  parts — 
the  sensual  side  of  his  inner  life,  clearly 
defined,  and  falling  into  a  higher  and  a  lower 
(willing  and  desiring),  and  the  higher  life  of 
pure  clear  reason,  in  no  wise  circumscribed 
by  earthly  limitations.  Equipped  with  this 
highest,  most  spiritual  part  of  his  nature,  man 
comes  from  the  higher,  true,  and  real  life  of 
ideas ;  he  has  sunk  into  the  material  world. 
Was  it  his  own  guilt,  or  was  it  a  higher  neces- 
sity? Opinions  vary  on  this  subject.  In  any 
case,   man  now   dwells   on   this   earth  as   in   a 


2o6        What  is  Religion  ? 

prison.  He  finds  himself,  half  dreaming  and 
half  waking,  in  a  dark  cavern  through  a 
crevice  in  which  a  dim  light  from  afar  pene- 
trates, and  in  this  feeble  light  he  sees  vague, 
gigantic,  shadowy  figures  hovering  around. 
This  is  life. 

There  has  remained  to  man — who,  having 
drunk  of  the  waters  of  Lethe  (forgetfulness), 
has  quite  forgotten  his  heavenly  origin — re- 
membrance, gradually  evolving  into  conscious- 
ness. All  learning  is  remembrance.  The  holy 
longing  after  the  lost  heaven  has  also  remained. 
But  the  imprisonment  is  bitter,  and  of  long 
duration,  and  strong  are  the  fetters  of  the 
material  world.  In  Platonism,  as  in  Buddhism, 
^  the  idea  of  the  transmigration  of  souls  and 
of  re-incarnation  derived  from  the  popular  belief, 
and  directly  taken  from  the  Orphic  worship, 
plays  an  important  part.  The  souls  that  have 
fallen  from  their  higher  estate  pass  upwards 
and  downwards  in  painful,  confused  wanderings, 
so  that  here  also  the  deeds  of  an  earlier  life 
condition  the  existence  of  the  following  one. 
The  whole  idea,  it  is  true,  is  not  nearly  so  clear 
as  in  the  Indian  religion,  but  confusedly  inter- 
mingled with  the  thought  of  compensation  in 
a  future  life.     Yet  it  is  here  as  it  is  there. 

But  there  does  exist  a  means  of  freedom, 
a  way  upwards  out  of  this  painful  cycle  of  life. 


The  Religions  of  Redemption    207 

and  it  is  the  wise  man  who  finds  this  way.  If 
he  turns  away  from  this  world  of  the  senses, 
and  does  not  permit  it  to  gain  access  to  his 
innermost  being,  if  he  keeps  his  inward  and 
spiritual  eye  ever  directed  to  the  world  of  the 
eternal  idea,  and  thus  allows  his  higher  and 
reasonable  self  to  be  gradually  strengthened, 
then  even  in  this  life  he  will  be,  to  a  certain 
extent,  freed  from  the  bonds  of  materialism ; 
and  after  death  his  released  spirit  will  mount 
upwards  to  higher  and  higher  worlds,  and  will 
at  last  find  freedom  from  the  painful  law  of 
re-incarnation,  and  a  return  to  the  home  of 
eternal  light. 

In  considering  now  what  Buddhism  and 
Platonism  (which  have  been  very  briefly 
described)  have  in  common,  we  shall  easily 
discern  the  general  characteristics  of  the  one- 
sided, clearly  marked  religions  of  redemption. 
We  summarise  these  characteristics  as  follows : 

1.  In  the  religions  of  redemption  the  con- 
sciousness becomes  clearly  aware  that  in  religion, 
besides  the  empirical  daily  life,  conditioned  by 
the  facts  of  nature,  there  is  another  and  a  higher 
life.  An  earnest  attempt  is  made  to  believe  in 
this  higher  life,  and  to  strive  after  it.  In  the 
national  religions  this  perception  is  not  ex- 
pressed.      Judaism    and     Islamism,    contrasted 


2o8         What  is  Religion  ? 

with  the  higher  aspirations  of  the  prophetic 
period,  represent  a  relapse  from  spiritual 
heights  to  material  conditions.  In  the  reli- 
gions of  redemption  all  external  things,  so  far 
as  a  large  circle  of  men  is  concerned,  are 
abolished,  and  disappear  ;  all  supports,  all  out- 
ward means,  all  crutches,  are  no  longer  of  any 
value.  Religion  rises  to  the  height  of  pure 
spirituality  and  inwardness,  to  the  idea  of 
unity  and  entity.  Thus  it  breaks  down  and 
oversteps  the  limits  of  nationality.  Platonism 
and  Buddhism  are  in  their  very  nature  inter- 
national. 

2.  This  thought  of  a  higher  life  which  faith 
gives  is  presented  to  us  in  both  religions  in 
a  one-sided  and  distorted  form.  The  highest 
good  of  Buddhism  is  Nirvana — that  is,  absolute 
negation  of  this  life ;  its  highest  object  is 
"freedom  from  life."  Platonism,  in  the  same 
way,  denies  all  life  which  is  conformable  to 
experience,  and,  above  all,  any  practical  dealing 
with  it ;  the  only  thing  of  real  value  which 
it  finds  in  life  is  the  intellectual  element.  Its 
highest  aim  is  a  life  of  undisturbed  reason, 
of  untroubled  perception,  of  the  pure  idea. 
The  ideal  of  life  in  the  one  case  is  that  of  the 
monk,  in  the  other  the  philosopher,  far  removed 
from  all  matters  of  daily  life. 

3.  With  this  complete  or  half-complete  nega- 


The  Religions  of  Redemption    209 

tion  of  human  life  there  vanishes  the  vital 
thought  of  a  God.  When  the  human  ego  dis- 
appears, the  Divine  Being  also  disappears,  or 
grows  dim.  In  Platonism  the  idea  of  the 
Godhead  is  highly  abstract  and  mystical ;  in 
Brahminism  the  Godhead  is  the  universal  being, 
not  to  be  closely  defined,  in  opposition  to  the 
individual  existence,  which  is  necessarily  pain- 
ful ;  in  Buddhism  the  thought  of  God  is  entirely 
abandoned,  the  object  of  belief  vanishing  when 
the  personality  vanishes. 

4.  The  natural  consequence  of  this  is  that 
in  both  religions  the  specially  moral  element 
is  relegated  to  an  inferior  position.  We  have 
seen  how  in  Buddhism  the  doctrine  of  suffering 
rests  entirely  on  the  consideration  of  life  on 
earth  and  all  its  limitations ;  how  the  idea  of 
moral  deficiency  and  imperfection,  of  the  agony 
of  sin  and  the  need  for  redemption  from  sin, 
is  quite  unknown.  In  Platonism,  also,  the 
highest  faculty  of  the  human  being  is  not  the 
will  towards  the  good,  but  the  clear  reason 
which  lasts  for  ever.  What  hinders  and  fetters 
mankind  is  not  moral  evil,  but  the  material 
world.  Of  course  it  must  not  be  imagined  that 
in  both  these  great  and  universal  phenomena 
(Buddhism  and  Platonism)  the  moral  element 
has  not  reached  a  high  degree  of  culture,  but 
there  is  lacking  any  real  union  of  religion  and 

15 


2IO         What  is  Religion  ? 

morality.  The  essential  thing  and  the  highest 
thing  which  that  religion  offers  and  promises 
to  mankind  lies  quite  apart  from  good  and 
evil. 

5.  Connected  with  this  one-sided  attitude 
of  the  religions  of  redemption  towards  life 
and  moral  acts  is  the  peculiar  relation  they 
assume  towards  the  people  who  are  their 
believers.  Buddhism  conquered  a  whole  series 
of  nations  of  a  very  different  kind,  and  it  still 
rules  them  to  a  certain  extent.  On  all  sides 
the  same  phenomenon  is  apparent.  We  see 
everywhere  that  the  Buddhist  religion  has 
only  intermingled  with  the  life  of  the  people 
in  an  entirely  superficial  manner,  just  as  oil 
rests  on  the  surface  of  the  water.  Buddhism, 
apart  from  slight  changes,  has  everywhere 
remained  the  same  with  a  wearisome  monotony; 
it  has  remained  the  religion  of  the  monk.  By 
its  side  it  has  permitted  to  remain,  uninter- 
rupted and  unpurified,  the  existing  condition 
of  affairs,  with  its  customs  and  habits,  its 
morality  and  even  its  belief.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  Tibet,  perhaps,  Buddhism  has  nowhere 
become  the  religion  which  penetrated  the  life 
of  the  people  through  and  through.  The  Greek 
philosophic  religion  of  the  cultured  likewise 
never  had  the  strength  to  become  the  religion 
of   the   people ;  it   remained   the   possession   of 


The  Religions  of  Redemption    211 

a  small  and  narrow  circle,  and  had  not  the 
courage  to  reform  the  belief  of  the  Greek 
people.  It  made  weak  compromises,  by  which 
it  justified  itself  in  its  own  sight  when,  in  the 
practical  conduct  of  life,  it  once  more  bowed 
to  custom  and  usage  and  to  a  belief  which 
it  inwardly  regarded  as  inferior.  Buddhism 
met  with  a  very  similar  fate ;  wherever  it 
became  the  religion  of  the  people  it  generally 
sank  into  complete  pagan  superstition,  especially 
into  a  superstitious  and  fetich-like  worship  of 
relics.  The  exaggerated  spirituality  of  the 
religions  changes  into  its  exact  opposite ;  move- 
ments which  began  with  the  rejection  of  all 
that  was  considered  of  value  in  the  people's 
belief  bow  finally  to  its  power. 

Thus  we  see  how  from  the  age  of  the  prophets 
the  history  of  religion  follows  two  lines — the 
religions  of  the  law  and  the  religions  of  redemp- 
tion. In  the  former  there  exists  a  close  con- 
nection between  morality  and  religiousness,  and 
the  conviction  that  piety  is  synonymous  with 
acts  in  accordance  with  God's  will.  But  this 
close  connection  is  destroyed  by  the  power  of 
custom,  right,  observance  which  steps  in  and 
causes  religion  to  be  brought  down  to  the  level 
of  everyday  life,  and  entangled  in  the  things 
of  the  material  world.  Thus  the  perception  that 
the  higher  life  is  chiefly  developed  by  piety  is 


212         What  is   Religion  ? 

almost  lost  sight  of.  The  religions  of  redemp- 
tion established  very  clearly  the  idea  of  a  higher 
life,  but  as  they  conceived  this  higher  life  in 
its  narrowness  and  in  its  sharp  contrast  to  the 
actual  life,  the  moral  element  lost  its  decisive 
significance,  and  religious  good  came  to  exist 
apart  from  good  and  evil. 

Wherever  these  two  lines  meet ;  where  a 
religion  can  avoid  the  narrowness  which 
characterises  both  types  of  religion,  and  combine 
their  good  points  ;  where  the  idea  of  redemption 
is  united  with  the  moral  element — there  we  shall 
have  the  perfect  form  of  a  religion.  We  will 
now  see  whether  the  Christian  religion  satisfies 
these  postulates. 


CHAPTER  YII 

THE    NATURE     OF     CHRISTIANITY 

MORE  than  half  a  century  was  to  elapse 
from  the  period  of  the  prophets  before 
religion  experienced  a  new  and  higher  develop- 
ment which  was  for  the  time  being  definitive. 
This  development  did  not  come  without 
preparation.  The  nations  along  the  Mediter- 
ranean and  beyond  in  the  East  had  already 
entered  upon  a  life  in  common.  Alexander 
the  Great  had  ruled  and  had  carried  Greek 
culture  far  into  the  East.  If  the  East  was 
influenced  by  the  West,  it  must  be  remembered 
the  East  opened  its  treasures  to  the  West.  In 
the  interchange  which  took  place  between  East 
and  West  there  began  a  new  life  of  inconceivable 
plenitude  and  richness.  A  common  language, 
the  Hellenic,  united  the  nations ;  an  Hellenic 
culture,  intermingled  with  many  foreign 
elements,  began  to  dominate  the  world.  The 
heritage  of   the  Greeks  took  the  place  of   the 

*  213 


214        what  is  Religion? 

world-empire  of  the  Romans.  The  work  of 
Caesar,  and  more  especially  of  Augustus,  a  new 
and  secure  order  of  things  arose  from  the 
threatened  chaos.  There  ensued  once  again 
a  great  and  universal  revival  in  the  intellectual 
life  of  man.  Secure  social  conditions,  extreme 
outward  order  and  harmony,  a  marvellously 
facilitated  and  regulated  international  inter- 
course, a  flourishing  world-commerce,  a  revival 
in  art,  literature,  science — it  was  into  such 
a  world  that  Christianity  came.  In  the  pro- 
vinces especially  Augustus  was  glorified  as  the 
deliverer  and  the  saviour. 

The  religious  life  of  mankind  at  this  time 
was  also  a  life  in  common.  We  are  confronted 
with  many  great  and  influential  religions. 
There  is  the  later  Greek  religion,  due  to  Plato, 
of  the  cultured  men  of  the  Grseco-Roman 
empire,  with  its  contrast  between  the  ideal 
and  the  real  world,  and  its  lofty  psean  of  the 
eternal  home  of  the  soul  ;  the  Babylonian 
religion,  with  its  astrological  fatalism  and  its 
mantik,  which  influenced  the  West ;  the  half- 
stagnant  Egyptian  religion,  with  its  belief  in 
magic,  significant  of  a  lower  stage  of  civilisa- 
tion, as  well  as  its  worship  of  Isis-Osiris 
(Serapis),  the  judge  in  a  future  life.  Then 
we  have  the  Persian  religion  which  began  to 
penetrate   into   the    West    as    the    religion    of 


The  Nature  of  Christianity    215 

Mithra,  and,  most  important  of  all  the  reli- 
gions in  its  significance  and  results,  the  Jewish 
religion,  which  with  the  extension  of  the 
Jewish  nation  was  established  in  almost  all 
the  larger  towns  of  the  Grseco-Roman  empire, 
and  carried  on  an  extended  and  successful  pro- 
paganda. Finally,  there  were  hybrid  religions 
of  all  kinds. 

These  religions  overstepped  the  boundaries 
of  nationalities  mostly  in  the  curious  form  of 
secret  societies — severe  religious  sects  which 
encompassed  themselves  with  mystery  similar 
in  some  ways  to  the  familiar,  yet  unfamiliar, 
phenomenon  of  freemasonry.  Everywhere 
there  is  displayed  a  tendency  towards  both 
universalism  and  individualism.  The  individual 
searches  for  and  strives  after  things  for  him- 
self, quite  apart  from  the  things  appertaining  to 
his  nation ;  he  accepts  whatever  comes.  Reli- 
gion is  a  matter  for  the  individual,  a  matter 
of  conviction.  In  most  of  these  religions  the 
extremely  personal  belief  in  a  future  retri- 
bution becomes  the  central  idea,  and  with  it 
is  united  a  most  pessimistic  attitude  towards 
this  life.  The  thought  of  redemption,  of  belief 
in  a  redeeming  God,  now  begins  to  play 
the  most  important  part  in  these  religions. 
On  all  sides  the  connection  between  these 
tendencies   is   seen.     The   national,   polytheistic 


2 1 6        What  is  Religion  ? 

elements  are  not  finally  overcome  ;  religion 
still  remains  fettered  by  customs  and  cere- 
monies. Curious  secret  rites,  mysterious 
consecrations,  sacramental  acts,  senseless  prac- 
tices and  penances,  deeds  of  magic,  and 
spiritism  are  the  widespread  characteristics  of 
the  religious  life. 

In  this  development  of  the  common  religious 
life,  Judaism,  the  religion  which  has  already 
been  referred  to  as  the  most  significant  of  all 
religions,  Judaism,  which  gave  birth  to  Chris- 
tianity, participated.  In  spite  of  its  par- 
ticularistic aloofness,  the  Jewish  religion  was 
swept  along  by  the  universal,  spiritual  currents, 
and,  indeed,  the  advance  here  was  especially 
vital  and  clear.  The  tendency  towards  uni- 
versalism,  the  process  of  freeing  religion  from 
the  nation  and  the  national  sacrificial  worship, 
the  emphasis  laid  upon  individualism,  the 
thought  of  judgment,  the  pessimistic  attitude 
towards  the  world,  now  and  then  amounting  to 
dualism  (belief  in  the  devil),  were  especially 
strongly  displayed  in  Judaism.  Here,  also, 
the  narrowness  of  these  tendencies  is  clearly 
seen.  Although  Judaism  now  spread  all  over 
the  world,  and  began  to  carry  on  a  world-pro- 
paganda, the  religion  still  remained  chained  to 
the  Jewish  nation.  It  freed  itself  gradually 
from  the  national  worship,  only  to  become  all 


The  Nature  of  Christianity    217 

the  more  entangled  in  ceremony  and  legal 
casuistry.  It  was  on  tlie  way  to  becoming  a 
matter  for  the  individual,  a  personal  conviction, 
but  once  more  it  falls  into  a  blind  obedience 
to  the  letter  of  the  law.  The  idea  of  a  per- 
sonal judgment  is  evolved,  but  the  national 
hope,  w^ith  its  passionate  fanaticism,  prevails. 
New  expressions  of  the  religious  life  arise : 
a  collection  of  sacred  writings,  a  spiritual 
worship  of  God  without  ceremonial  observ- 
ances, an  appointed  order  of  prayer,  and,  at 
the  same  time,  new  fetters  and  burdens,  the 
domination  of  erudition  in  piety,  the  domina- 
tion of  the  letter  and  of  the  external  in  the 
innermost  recesses  of  the  religious  life. 

Into  this  world  was  delivered  the  Gospel : 
Jesus  and  His  preaching  appeared  on  the 
horizon.  At  the  first  glance  it  is  not  easy  to 
estimate  the  relation  of  this  new  phenomenon 
to  the  past.  Everything  that  is  to  be  found 
in  the  Gospel  is  to  be  found  somewhere  or 
other  in  the  past  religious  history  of  the 
Jewish  people,  though  only  in  a  primitive  form. 
Learned  Jews  are  accustomed  to  point  with 
pride  to  this  "  dependence "  of  the  Gospel  on 
Judaism.  With  justice  the  retort  has  been 
made  that  the  Jewish  Rabbis  had  indeed  said 
all  that  Jesus  said ;  but,  unfortunately,  they 
said  so  much  else  besides.     It  is  in  its  simplicity 


,/ 


/Ti 


V 


2i8        What  is  Religion  ? 

j  that  the  nature  of  the  higher  religion  is 
'  revealed ;  the  classic  is  always  the  simple. 
Simplification  means,  at  the  same  time,  the 
deliverance  from  the  burdens  of  the  past.  We 
must  now  consider  more  closely  this  great 
process  of  deliverance. 

First  of  all,  Jesus  freed  religion  from 
nationality  :  Judaism  spells  fetters,  Chris- 
tianity freedom.  At  the  first  glance,  this 
statement  may  appear  extraordinary,  for 
throughout  His  life  and  work  Jesus  appears 
united  to  His  own  people.  He  refuses  to  heal 
the  Canaanitish  woman  because  he  has  only 
been  sent  to  the  lost  sheep  of  Israel.  The 
immediate  disciples  of  Jesus  were  opposed  to 
heathen  missions,  which  were  the  work  of  the 
Apostle  Paul.  Yet,  in  spite  of  this,  deliverance 
from  nationalities  is  to  be  found  in  the  Gospel 
of  Jesus.  But  it  was  an  inward  redemption  ; 
Jesus  ever  remained  a  faithful  son  of  His 
nation,  but  He  delivered  His  faith  from  merely 
national  interests.  This  sprang  from  the  very 
centre  of  His  religion.  We  can  best  compre- 
hend this  if  we  realise  the  essential  idea  of 
the  preaching  of  Jesus,  the  idea  of  the 
kingdom  of  God.  What  did  this  hope  of 
the  kingdom  of  God  signify  to  the  Judaism 
of  His  time  ?  Above  all,  it  signified  hope  in 
a  time  when  the  people   of    Israel  should   be 


The  Nature  of  Christianity    219 

victorious  and  should  succeed  to  world-wide 
domination  ;  when  it  should  trample  upon  the 
hated  Roman  empire  ;  when  a  king  from  the 
race  of  David  should  rule  over  Palestine,  over 
Jerusalem,  and  far  over  the  wide  world ;  when 
the  heathen  should  pay  tribute,  the  prisoners 
of  Israel  be  freed,  Jerusalem  built  up  gloriously 
again — a  period  in  which  God  should  rule  over 
His  people  on  earth  and  dwell  with  the  faithful. 
What  became  of  this  belief  in  the  preaching 
of  Jesus  ?  It  was  glorified  and  transfigured 
The  kingdom  which  Jesus  looked  forward  to 
was  indeed  the  reign  of  God,  a  condition  of 
affairs  in  which  God's  will  was  done  in  heaven 
and  on  earth,  when  the  pious  should  see  God, 
should  experience  mercy,  and  should  live  in 
eternal  joy — Jesus  speaks  quite  calmly  of 
material  joys — in  community  with  God.  All 
the  other  elements  of  the  Jewish  national 
hope  fall  completely  into  the  background.  And 
if  these  notes  are  now  and  again  struck,  they 
are,  as  it  were,  the  last  sounds  of  an  old  song 
that  is  dying  away.  Thus  Jesus  freed  the 
belief  in  the  future  life,  and  with  this  belief 
piety,  from  any  thought  of  the  Jewish  nation. 
A  generation  later  Paul  accomplished  the 
external  deliverance  from  nationality.  He  was 
the  first  to  utter  exultingly  the  saying  that 
brought  freedom :  "  There  can  be  neither  Jew 


2  20        What  is  Religion  ? 

nor  Greek,  bond  nor  free."  But  this  world- 
propaganda  of  Paul  was  not  an  absolutely 
new  thing,  it  was  only  an  organised  extension, 
an  external  development  of  what  existed  in 
the  preaching  of  Jesus.  Since  the  days  of 
Paul  the  international  character  of  Christianity 
has  remained  unassailable. 

In  place  of  the  nation  the  individual  now 
entered  exclusively  into  his  rights.  Judaism 
was,  and  remained,  above  everything  else,  a 
national  religion,  even  though  it  was  often 
intermingled      with     individualistic      elements. 

IThe  Gospel  is  primarily  pure,  intense  individ- 
ualism. The  great  Danish  writer  Eaerkegaarde 
once  expressed  the  thought,  certainly  somewhat 
exaggerated,  that  the  Gospel  thinks  in  the 
"category  of  the  individual."  Aloof  from  all 
sects,  from  "  good  society,"  Jesus  went  among 
the  despised,  the  rejected,  and  the  solitary,  the 
sinners  and  the  publicans.  He  told  the  worthy 
rehgious  people  that  there  was  more  joy  in 
heaven  over  one  sinner  who  repented  than 
over  ninety-nine  pious  men.  Jesus  brings  the 
individual  face  to  face  with  his  choice,  with 
the  idea  of  judgment ;  He  places  him  under 
the  great  eye  of  God,  who  may  condemn  him, 
body  and  soul,  to  hell.  He  tells  the  individual 
that  he  carries  his  fate  in  his  own  hands,  and 
that    his     life    is    worth    more     than    all    the 


The  Nature  of  Christianity    221 

treasures    of    the    world.      In    the    Gospel    the 
redemption  of  the  individual  is  accomplished. 

The  second  great  deliverance  which  Jesus 
effected  was  the  freeing  of  religion  from  cere- 
monial observances.  This  assertion  may  at 
first  seem  extraordinary,  for  Jesus  Himself  said 
He  had  not  come  to  dispense  with  the  law  but 
to  fulfil  it,  and  that  the  smallest  letter  of  the 
law  must  be  obeyed.  Yet,  if  we  examine 
into  the  matter  more  closely,  we  see  that 
He  accomplished  an  inner  deliverance.  There 
is  no  revolutionary  attack,  no  destruction  of 
forms — it  is  a  question  of  doing  this  thing  and 
not  omitting  that.  Yet  these  forms  were  no 
longer  of  any  value  to  Him  and  His  real  life ; 
He  filled  His  own  soul  and  His  disciples'  souls 
with  higher  things.  He  could  quietly  wait 
until  all  the  burdens  of  the  law  and  the  use- 
less accumulations  which  had  gathered  round 
it  had,  so  far  as  His  followers  were  concerned, 
sunk  into  darkness  and  dimness.  Only  on  one 
point  was  He  inexorable ;  in  one  point  His 
kingly,  warlike  nature  showed  itself.  When 
the  lower  and  unessential  things  which  wanted 
to  make  themselves  prominent  threatened  the 
higher  life  with  injury,  then  He  fought  in  the 
manner  of  the  old  prophets.  He  destroyed 
the  law  in  favour  of  love  and  mercy.  Duty 
to  parents    was    of    more    value  than  sacrifice, 


(D 


v5) 


222         What  is  Religion  ? 

reconciliation  than  worship  at  the  altar ;  faith- 
fulness, mercy,  and  upright  judgment  are  more 
than  the  giving  of  tithes. 

With  the  deliverance  from  ceremonial  man 
was  delivered  from  the_letter  of  the  law. 
Here,  also,  Jesus  showed  Himself  the  devout 
Son  of  His  race.  To  Him  the  Old  Testament 
is  the  Holy  Scripture  ;  He  trusts  it  absolutely ; 
He  proves  many  things  from  it.  But  in  His 
soul  He  was  free.  To  Him  religion  is  a  whole, 
a  unity,  not  a  series  of  definitions  depending 
on  the  letter  of  the  law.  And  wherever  the 
Scriptures  and  tradition  run  counter  to  His 
ideas  He  argues  in  a  new  and  incredibly  bold 
manner.  From  a  command  of  Moses  He 
appeals  to  the  eternal  laws  created  by  God. 
He  ventures  to  say  :  "  You  have  heard  that  it 

was  said  of  old But  I  tell  you."    In  His  sight 

there  is  no  piety  of  the  letter,  no  command 
from  the  past.  Side  by  side  with  the  Scriptures 
stands  experience  which  He  gains  Himself,  with 
clear  eyes,  in  the  life  of  nature  and  of  men. 

At  the  same  time  He  delivered  religion  from 
erudition.  His  bitterest  opponents  were  those 
learned  in  the  law,  the  theologians.  To  Jesus 
religion,  theoretical  and  practical,  was  some- 
thing infinitely  simple,  not  in  the  least  anything 
that  was  studied.  He  dethroned  the  learned 
men.     "  I  thank  Thee,  O  Father,  Lord  of  heaven 


The  Nature  of  Christianity   223 

and  earth,  that  Thou  didst  hide  these  things 
from  the  wise  and  understanding  and  didst 
reveal  them  unto  babes."  On  the  simple  people 
He  made  the  impression  which  is  summarised 
in  the  saying :  "  He  preaches  as  one  inspired, 
and  not  as  the  doctors." 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the 
fact  that  the  process  of  deliverance  begun  by 
Jesus  was  completed  by  Paul.  Paul  drew  the 
deduction,  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law.  He 
expresses  this  in  the  marvellous  saying,  the 
magic  saying  with  "which  he  comprehends  the 
innermost  nature  of  Christianity :  "  With  free- 
dom did  Christ  set  us  free."  But  when  we 
compare  the  freedom  of  Jesus  and  Paul, 
Jesus  appears  as  more  free.  He  was  truly 
free,  so  free  that  He  continued  to  bear  great 
burdens  Tvithout  thinking  of  getting  rid  of 
them,  so  filled  with  living  fire  that  His 
life  was  not  stifled  by  the  mass  of  rubbish 
which  He  did  not  clear  away.  The  fetters 
had  eaten  deep  into  the  soul  of  Paul  before 
he  cast  them  on  one  side.  The  freedom  of 
the  Gospel  works  from  within  outwards ;  it 
is  not  a  breaking  away,  and  a  violent  breach 
with  the  external,  but  a  quiet  germinating  and 
growing  within,  slow  but  absolutely  certain. 

Thus  Jesus  is  the  Deliverer.     Jesus  delivered    ^/ 
religion     from    all    national   claims,    from    all 


2  24        What  is  Religion  ? 

national  fetters,  from  ceremonial,  from  the 
letter  of  the  law,  and  from  the  domination 
of  erudition.  ' 

With  simplicity  and  purity  the  true  inward 
meaning  of  the  Gospel  is  now  revealed  :  in 
unfettered  strength  faith  in  God  flows  onward 
freely  and  powerfully.  Judaism  had  compre- 
hended God  as  the  strong,  supernatural,  awe- 
inspiring  God  to  whom  mankind  must  bow  in 
absolute  obedience,  and  this  terrible,  sublime 
God  still  serves  as  the  background  for  Jesus's 
faith  and  piety.  He  knows  personally  this 
terrible,  almighty  God  through  His  own  per- 
sonal experience.  His  God  had  given  Him  no 
success  in  His  life ;  mystery  beyond  all  other 
mystery.  He  had  endured  in  His  life  misunder- 
standing and  enmity,  anguish  and  neglect, 
persecution  and  dark  forebodings  of  death, 
faithlessness  and  treachery  from  His  own  dis- 
ciples. Yet  here  arises,  in  unquenchable  power, 
the  victorious  cry  of  faith  :  "And  yet  I  believe"  ; 
here  takes  place  "  the  casting  into  the  abyss." 
To  this  mysterious  God,  high  in  the  heavens, 
Jesus  was  ever  able  to  say,  "  My  Father,"  and 
He  taught  His  disciples  to  pray,  "  Our  Father, 
who  art  in  heaven " ;  with  a  childlike,  bold 
confidence  He  submitted  to  the  guidance  of 
the  heavenly  Father,  and  accepted  life  with 
all   its   enigmas   and   sufferings,  which  He  had 


The  Nature  of  Christianity   225 

experienced  as  no  other  ever  had.  And  in 
imitation  of  Hini  His  greatest  disciple  ex- 
ultingly  pronounced  the  defiantly  bold  saying, 
"  We  glory  in  our  sufferings." 

And  just  as  Jesus  vanquished  and  trans- 
figured the  belief  of  the  religion  of  the  law 
in  a  remote,  harsh,  incomprehensible  God,  so 
the  belief  in  God  which  He  preached  was  im- 
measurably superior  to  that  held  by  the 
religions  of  redemption.  Let  us,  for  a  moment, 
for  the  purpose  of  comparison,  cast  our  glance 
back  at  the  Brahminical  belief  in  God,  Bud- 
dhistic belief  not  being  apposite  here.  Brah- 
manism,  as  a  religion,  rests  on  the  weakening 
of  the  consciousness  of  the  dignity  of  the 
spiritual  life  and  personality.  The  Hindoo 
feels,  especially  in  his  religion,  that  he  is 
merely  a  living  being,  closely  connected  with 
all  nature  around  him ;  hence  God  appears  to 
him  as  the  one  indefinable  existence,  and  his 
chief  religious  idea  is  the  conviction  that  the 
individual  life  is  necessarily  one  of  suffering, 
and  so  he  longs  after  union  with  this  universal, 
indefinable  Being.  The  teaching  of  the  Gospel, 
on  the  contrary,  rests  on  the  most  profound 
sense  of  the  dignity  and  individuality  of 
human  life,  though  this  belief  is  not  always 
pronounced  in  so  many  words.  In  truth,  for 
Jesus,  there  exists  man  only,  although  He  casts 

16 


2  26         What  is   Religion  ? 

on  Nature  a  clear  and  comprehending  glance, 
far  superior  to  that  of  the  Hindoo.  Nature,  the 
life  of  the  lower  beings,  is  chiefly  of  interest  to 
Him  because  He  sees  in  it  symbols  of  human 
life  and  its  laws.  He  does  not  reduce  human 
life  to  the  level  of  the  life  of  Nature.  He 
elevates  the  natural,  in  the  form  of  parables, 
to  the  height  of  the  spiritual.  Belief  in  God 
is  expressed  in  the  same  symbolical  manner. 
When  He  constantly  calls  God  "  Father,"  and 
contrasts  God  as  a  personal  Being  with 
the  human  being,  this  is  only  meant  as  a 
hesitating,  incomplete  description  of  the  mys- 
terious, all-powerful,  all-comprehensive  nature 
of  God,  merely  a  symbol.  But  the  Gospel 
expresses  in  unsurpassed  fashion  the  idea  that 
the  nature  of  God  is  not  that  of  a  universal, 
impersonal  existence ;  and  that,  although  His 
deepest  nature  is  beyond  our  comprehension, 
we  approach  nearest  to  the  truth  when  we 
understand  God  as  personal  energy  infused  with 
spirituality.  His  nature  conforming  more  to  this 
idea  than  to  that  of  natural  existence.  In  com- 
prehending God  as  the  Creator,  the  Doer,  the 
Preserver,  as  the  Father  of  our  spiritual  and 
higher  nature,  the  Gospel  at  the  same  time 
carries  the  personal  energy  of  the  human  being 
to  its  highest  development.  Thus  the  belief 
taught    in     the     Gospel     has     superseded     the 


The  Nature  of  Christianity   227 

belief  of  the  religions  of  the  law  and  of 
redemption. 

And  now,  at  last,  in  this  belief  of  the  Gospel 
we  have  that  close  and  wonderful  connection 
between  religion  and  morality  to  which  the 
higher  religions  strove  to  attain,  yet  failed  to 
reach  in  its  entirety.  To  Jesus  there  was  only 
one  true  connecting  link  between  the  spiritual 
and  the  moral — right  doing.  God  is  good,  and 
no  one  but  God  alone  is  good  ;  he  who  will  find 
God  must  seek  Him  in  good.  To  the  woman 
who  with  spiritual  enthusiasm  presses  towards 
Him,  and  calls  the  mother  of  such  a  son  blessed, 
Jesus  answered,  "  Blessed  are  they  that  hear 
the  word  of  God  and  keep  it." 

Jesus  drew  many  connecting  lines  between 
rehgion  and  morality.  First  of  all  He  took  over 
from  Judaism  the  mighty  idea  of  judgment : 
"I  will  warn  you  whom  ye  shall  fear.  Fear 
him  which  after  he  hath  killed  hath  power  to 
cast  into  hell."  And  He  liberated  this  thought 
of  judgment  from  all  connection  -u^ith  nations, 
from  all  antagonisms  between  nations,  and  sects, 
and  parties.  Xaked  and  alone  Jesus  placed  the 
individual  before  the  eternal  judgment  of  God. 
He  liberated  the  idea  from  the  pharisaical  casu- 
istical setting  which  belonged  to  it  in  Judaism. 
The  judgment  did  not  depend  on  works  but 
on    the    motive :    a    good    tree    brings     forth 


22  8        What  is  Religion  ? 

good  fruit.  He  freed  it  also  from  all  idea  of 
external  rewards,  from  bargaining  and  haggling 
with  God.  With  unsurpassed  simplicity  and 
convincing  power  Jesus  taught  His  disciples : 
"  When  ye  have  done  all  the  things  that  are 
commanded  you,  say.  We  are  servants ;  we 
have  done  that  which  it  was  our  duty  to 
do." 

Jesus  gives  a  still  deeper  basis  to  this  con- 
nection between  religion  and  morality.  The 
belief  in  God  the  Father  is  not  only  a  gift  of 
God  through  which  man  is  freed  from  the 
anguish  and  burden  of  life,  but  it  is  also  an 
obligation.  Belief  in  the  Fatherhood  of  God 
implies  the  relationship  of  father  and  child. 
Noblesse  oblige.  The  children  are  to  be  perfect 
as  the  heavenly  Father  is  perfect ;  this  is  the 
will  of  the  good  God.  To  fulfil  the  will  of  the 
heavenly  Father  is  the  very  quintessence  and 
substance  of  the  belief  in  the  Fatherhood  of  God. 

A  morality  purified  and  free  from  all  cere- 
monial, from  all  insignificant  legal  and  casuistical 
rules  and  regulations,  from  all  subordinate  and 
external  details,  is,  in  the  Gospel,  closely  con- 
nected with  a  pure  religion  cleansed  of  all 
subordinate  matters. 

At  this  point  an  objection  may  be  raised. 
This  is  directed  against  what  is  called  the  purely 
spiritual,  ascetic  morality  of  the  Gospel.     It  is 


The  Nature  of  Christianity   229 

pointed  out  that  the  Gospel  assumes  a  hostile 
attitude  towards  human  life  and  the  work  of 
civilisation.  It  is  quite  true  that  Jesus  and  His 
disciples  lived  with  their  thoughts  and  their 
hopes  turned  towards  another  world.  Jesus  in 
clear  language  preached  the  doctrine  of  Sursum 
corda.  Treasure  was  not  to  be  laid  up  on  earth, 
but  only  in  heaven.  The  Gospel  paid  little 
attention  to  the  various  forms  of  human  life  as 
it  is  lived  in  common — in  the  family,  in  pro- 
fessions, in  the  nation,  in  the  State.  Jesus  freed 
Himself  and  His  disciples  from  all  ties  of  the 
family,  the  home,  and  daily  life  for  the  sake  of 
greater  and  higher  objects.  He  forbade  all 
care — all,  be  it  noted,  and  not  merely  the 
superfluous  care — for  the  morrow.  The  riches 
of  this  world  were,  in  His  eyes,  a  danger  to 
man's  soul ;  on  no  account  must  a  moral  value 
be  attached  to  them.  Law  and  authority 
were  natural  necessities,  but  of  no  moral  value. 
He  stood  in  sharp  opposition  to  the  degenerate 
civilisation  of  His  time.  He  lived,  it  must  be 
remembered,  in  a  period  of  complete  decay,  and 
the  idea  of  secular  work  on  behalf  of  His 
people  and  His  fatherland  must  have  neces- 
sarily been  remote  from  His  mind.  All  effort 
in  that  direction  would  have  been  in  vain. 
Once  more,  to  state  the  matter  shortly,  Jesus, 
in    the  Gospel,   did    not    direct    His    thoughts 


>l 


230         What  is  Religion? 

towards  the  value  of  this  world,  although  His 
immeasurably  rich  nature  scattered  many  a 
germinating  seed.  He  pointed  man  to  eternity. 
[AH  human  things,  the  finest  possessions,  are 
simply  regarded  as  the  material  by  means  of 
which  God's  will  may  be  done.  It  is  on  this 
concentration  of  view  and  this  austerity  that 
the  peculiarity,  the  power,  and  the  greatness  of 
Christ's  teaching  rest. 

But  we  must  also  look  at  the  matter  from 
another  point  of  view.  A  comparison  with  the 
somewhat  narrow  religions  of  redemption  is 
particularly  valuable  in  this  connection.  Jesus, 
.  unlike  Buddha,  never  declared  that  life  was  an 
I  evil,  nor,  like  Plato,  did  He  ever  preach  that  the 
pious  wise  man  must  above  all  avoid  the  ordi- 
nary, every-day  life.  Jesus  founded  no  order  of 
monks.  This  is  all  the  more  remarkable  as  there 
was  in  His  lifetime  something  in  the  nature  of  an 
order  of  monks  in  the  Jewish  religion,  the  sect 
of  the  Essenes.  Nothing  is  more  clear  than  the 
difference  between  Jesus  and  His  disciples  and 
these  curious,  ascetic,  holy  men,  who  were 
obliged  to  cleanse  themselves  in  water  if  they 
came  in  contact  with  any  one  who  did  not 
belong  to  their  sect.  Jesus  established  no 
school.  He  did  not  go,  like  John  the  Baptist, 
into  the  desert.  He  led  His  life  and  worked 
among  the  ordinary  circumstances  of  everyday 


The  Nature  of  Christianity   231 

life.  His  parables  show  how  well  he  understood 
the  common  life,  and  with  what  loving  eyes  He 
regarded  it.  With  the  same  energy  as  He 
employed  in  directing  His  disciples  towards 
God,  He  taught  them  their  duties  in  a  moral 
life  lived  among  others  :  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy 
God  and  thy  neighbour  as  thyself."  And  thus, 
because  in  the  Gospel  the  established  order  of 
things  is  not  abolished,  but  rather,  through  its 
direct  relation  with  religious  things,  brought  to 
its  highest  power  and  capacity  for  expression, 
the  Gospel  really  and  truly  evinces  no  hostile 
tendency  whatever  toward  this  earthly  life  and 
its  work. 

This  view  is  confirmed  by  a  study  of  the 
history  of  Christianity,  The  Gospel,  in  the 
beginning,  knew  and  recognised  only  the  essence 
of  all  established  modes  of  life,  the  simple, 
direct  relations  between  man  and  man.  It 
cared  nothing  for  the  forms  in  which  custom 
revealed  itself.  Early  Christianity,  in  conflict 
with  an  opposing  world,  showed  itself  hostile 
to  culture.  But  the  world  and  its  work  pressed 
powerfully  against  Christianity.  Christianity 
split  into  two  divisions — a  secular  Church  which 
made  peace  with  human  culture,  and  an  ascetic 
monasticism.  After  fifteen  hundred  years  a 
step  forward  was  made  by  means  of  the  German 
Reformation,  which  abolished  both  monasticism 


232         What  is   Religion? 

and  a  Church  striving  for  worldly  rule.  The 
Reformation  taught  that  man  may  serve  God 
in  doing  the  work  of  the  world.  Christianity 
was  able  to  bear  all  these  changes,  and  the 
Reformation  marks  no  step  backward,  but  a 
healthy  progress.  Thus,  in  considering  this 
part  of  history,  we  venture  confidently  to  pro- 
nounce the  judgment  that  the  morality  of  the 
Gospel  is  not  ascetic  and  inimical  to  culture. 
It  accepts,  in  principle,  human  life  and  all  the 
work  appertaining  to  it  because  it  accepts  the 
morality  revealed  by  it. 

But  this  does  not  by  any  means  exhaust  the 
wealth  of  the  Gospel.  Morality  is  only  one 
focus  in  its  ellipse  ;  the  other  is  the  idea  of 
^  Vv-  redemption.  Jesus  did  not  merely  strengthen 
to  the  highest  point  His  disciples'  moral  courage 
and  moral  determination.  He  did  not  merely 
cry  out  to  them  :  "  You  must  be  perfect."  He 
put  before  them  the  problem  of  how  to  be 
perfect.  He  stepped  forth  with  the  cry  of  "  Do 
penance ;  repent."  He  knew  that  morality  was 
conflict ;  He  knew  that  as  soon  as  the  Divine 
"Thou  shalt"  began  to  stream  through  the 
consciousness  of  man,  earth  -  born  man  would 
oppose  this  voice,  and  then  a  mortal  combat 
would  arise.  He  knew  that  in  this  conflict  we 
should  never  reach  the  goal  appointed  for  us. 
And  because  He  knew  this  Jesus  revealed  to 


The  Nature  of  Christianity   233 

His  people  a  God  of  forgiveness,  a  God  who 
does  not  look  to  the  performances  but  is  con- 
tent with  the  disposition  that  begets  goodwill, 
and  daily  He  forgives  sins.  Here  the  Gospel  of 
Jesus  reaches  its  supreme  height.  On  this  high 
level  stands  the  parable  of  the  prodigal  son. 
On  the  one  hand  the  sin-laden  human  being  in 
utter  abandonment  and  degradation,  who  has 
wandered  far  from  his  home,  and  on  the  other  the 
strong  Divine  love,  which  once  again  receives 
the  lost,  ruined  son  without  reproaches  or  condi- 
tions, without  accepting  the  self-reproaches  of 
the  son.  He  receives  him  with  cordial,  heart- 
felt joy,  with  a  feeling  of  thankfulness.  It 
is  this  love  which  the  worthy  self-righteous 
elder  son  regards  as  a  paradox,  almost  as  an 
injustice  :  "  Oh  !  love,  love,  thou  art  mighty  !  " 

It  is  not  only  in  parables  that  Jesus  revealed 
this  Divine  love  which  can  make  the  impossible 
possible ;  He  lets  it  influence  Him  in  His  own 
life.  Wherever  the  faintest  spark  is  still 
glimmering,  wherever  there  exists  in  an  utterly 
ruined  life  a  hidden  longing  and  seeking,  and 
a  last  despairing  cry  rises  upward,  Christ 
kindles  the  glimmering  spark.  He  transforms 
the  fading  evening  glow  into  the  dawn  of  a 
new  life.  Jesus,  the  friend  of  publicans  and 
sinners,  scorned  by  the  superior  people ! 

Thus    in   the   very   centre    of    the    Christian 


2  34        What  is  Religion? 

religion  stands  the  thought  of  redemption,  the 
belief  that  when  man  aspires  to  God  the  old 
passes  away,  and  a  new  life  is  born.  In  the 
religion  of  the  law  this  thought  had  only- 
been  vital  as  a  hope  of  the  actual  political 
deliverance  of  the  people.  In  this  respect 
Christianity  stands  side  by  side  with  the 
religions  of  redemption.  Yet  its  belief  in  re- 
demption is  peculiar.  It  is  not  here  a  matter 
of  "  Get  rid  of  life,"  nor  of  "  Get  rid  of  the 
material  experience  of  the  senses  "  ;  it  is  "  Get 
free  from  sin."  God  in  His  fatherly  goodness 
forgives  sins.  Christianity  as  a  moral  religion  of 
redemption  stands  at  the  head  of  all  religions. 

The  idea  of  redemption  appears  to  be  com- 
pleted by  the  idea  of  a  future  life.  Redemption 
will  be  accomplished  in  another  and  a  higher 
life  in  which  the  pure  in  heart  shall  see  God, 
and  shall  be  entirely  relieved  from  the  burden 
of  care  and  misery  and  from  all  moral  imper- 
fection. It  is  true  that  on  the  threshold  of  that 
life  stands  the  judgment,  but  Jesus  taught  His 
disciples  not  to  be  frightened  at  that.  He 
taught  them  to  think  of  the  future  life  as  a 
better,  higher  home,  for  which  indeed  they 
must  not  forget  this  earthly  life,  nor  neglect 
to  do  this  world's  work  as  long  as  it  is 
day. 

Now  all  this  is  not  laid  down  in  the   Gospel 


The  Nature  of  Christianity    235 

as  a  doctrine,  but  is  concentrated  in  a  portrait 
of  extraordinary  power  and  significance. 

When  we  consider  the  figure  of  Jesus  from 
this  point  of  view,  we  shall  see  that  He  Him- 
self was  perfectly  aware  of  the  significance 
of  His  personality  to  His  disciples.  However 
uncertain  may  be  the  sources  of  our  know- 
ledge concerning  Christ's  consciousness  of  His 
work,  and  however  controversial  the  question 
may  still  be  as  to  whether  Jesus  regarded 
Himself  as  the  Messiah  of  His  nation — and 
even  if  we  answer  this  question  in  the  affirma- 
tive, it  is  very  difficult  to  say  in  what  way 
Jesus  regarded  Himself  as  the  Messiah  of 
His  people — yet  all  the  more  brightly  shines 
forth  from  the  Gospels  the  immense  and 
authoritative  consciousness  of  Christ's  person- 
ality. He  feels  He  is  infinitely  superior  to  all 
those  who  have  arisen  among  His  own  people ; 
He  is  conscious  that  in  Him  the  voice  of  God 
speaks  finally  and  decisively  to  the  heart  of 
His  people,  and  that  after  that  there  is  the 
Judgment  Day.  In  kingly  fashion  He  disposes 
of  the  holy  tradition  come  down  from  Moses.  He 
is  greater  than  Jonah  and  Solomon,  greater 
than  prophets  and  kings  or  the  Temple  of 
Jerusalem.  He  knew  how  to  rule  over  His 
own;  He  called  to  them  and  they  came;  He 
snatched   the  disciples   from  the  chains  riveted 


236         What  is  Religion  ? 

by  family  or  calling,  and  cried,  "  Let  the  dead 
bury  their  dead."  He  ventured,  in  spite  of  the 
opposition  of  those  in  good  society,  into  the 
company  of  the  sinners,  the  despised  and 
the  rejected ;  He  dared  to  do  this,  for  He  stood 
above  all  calumny.  He  possessed  a  spiritual 
power  which  affected  the  very  physical  life  of 
man,  and  when  He  was  at  the  height  of  His 
influence,  surrounded  by  those  who  trusted  Him 
utterly,  He  said  to  the  lame  man,  "  Arise  and 
walk ! "  and  he  did  walk.  He  called  all  those 
who  were  weary  and  heavy-laden  to  Himself, 
for  He  felt  possessed  of  power  and  healing. 
He  turned  to  the  assembled  multitude  and  said, 
"  If  any  man  cometh  unto  Me  and  hateth  not 
his  own  father  and  mother,  he  cannot  be  My 
disciple."  He  dared  to  say  such  a  thing ! 
With  certain  death  before  Him  He  gathered 
together  His  disciples,  and  united  their  life  to 
His  in  the  Last  Supper  and  its  symbolism.  He 
suffered  the  death  of  the  criminal,  but  His 
spiritual  and  moral  glory  consecrated  even  the 
shameful  death  on  the  cross  as  the  holiest 
symbol  of  humanity.  The  very  nature  of  His 
subjection  lifted  Him  high  above  the  greatest 
leaders  of  men  in  the  domain  of  the  spiritual 
life.  In  the  presence  of  the  incomparable  glory 
of  His  cross  the  glory  of  all  others  fades  away. 
And   in   no  other   religion  has  a   personality 


The  Nature  of  Christianity    237 

ever  won  a  significance  in  any  way  approaching 
that  of  Christ's  in  the  Christian  religion.  He 
maintained  His  power  over  His  disciples'  souls 
beyond  death  and  the  grave.  After  a  brief 
period  of  the  deepest  despondency,  the  disciples, 
with  the  eyes  of  faith,  saw  Him  in  their  midst ; 
with  illuminating  power  His  picture  rose  before 
their  minds,  visible  and  actual,  as  only  some- 
thing actual  can  appear.  Then  came  Easter 
and  Whitsuntide.  And  there  where  Jesus  had 
apparently  been  subjected  to  a  shameful  death 
they  planted  the  flag  of  victory,  and  the  cross 
became  the  symbol  of  honour,  the  crucifixion 
the  most  powerful  of  God's  miracles. 

How  many  changes  and  alterations  has  not 
Christianity  experienced  since  then,  and  how 
many  wrappings  and  coverings  has  she  not  put 
on  and  taken  off  again !  And  in  the  plenitude 
of  forms  in  which  this  Religion  has  revealed 
herself,  the  one  idea  common  to  them  all  was 
the  reverence  paid  to  the  personality  of  Jesus, 
or  at  any  rate  the  hearty  desire  to  cling  to  it. 
Although  it  was  often  concealed  by  worthless 
coverings,  often  disfigured  and  distorted, 
Christianity  was  yet  powerful  enough  again 
and  again  to  cast  on  one  side  the  rubbish  of 
tradition  ;  and  wherever  Christianity  has  struck 
out  a  new  path  in  her  journey  it  has  been 
because  the    personality  of    Jesus    had    again 


238        What  is  Religion  ? 

become  living,  and  a  ray  from  its  Being  had 
once  more  illumined  the  world.  And  we 
children  of  an  historic  age,  to  whom  God 
through  long  and  constant  care  has  given 
knowledge  and  the  ability  to  see,  so  that  we 
perceive  the  figures  of  the  past  more  clearly  and 
distinctly  than  the  people  of  any  previous  age — 
we  stand  overjoyed  and  delighted  with  the 
fulness  of  life  in  that  Being,  and  we  trace  in 
this  personality  a  power  which  is  still  able  to 
influence  our  lives  vitally,  powerfully,  intensely. 
All  this  lies  deep  in  the  very  nature  of 
the  Gospel.  The  Gospel  everywhere  directs  us 
towards  community  of  social  life,  community 
of  spiritual  life,  which  survives  the  centuries. 
Buddhism,  Platonism,  cast  the  individual — 
whether  he  be  monk  or  philosopher — back  on 
himself.  In  Christianity,  with  all  its  individu- 
ality, everything  rests  on  the  community. 
Jesus  proclaims  the  kingdom  of  God,  Paul  the 
Church.  The  community  is  the  holy  building 
of  the  temple  in  which  the  Spirit  of  God  dwells. 
Christ  during  the  centuries  has  walked  through 
the  world  with  His  people. 

In  our  investigations  concerning  the  nature  of 
Christianity  we  have  hitherto  confined  our 
attentions  mainly  to  its  beginnings.  But  these 
do    not    embody    the    whole    of     Christianity. 


The  Nature  of  Christianity    239 

Christianity  has  had  a  history,  corresponding 
to  the  greatness  of  its  power  to  form  and 
organise  communities,  such  as  no  other  religion 
has  ever  had.  Judaism  since  the  period  of  the 
New  Testament  has  only  had  a  history  of 
stagnation  ;  the  Hellenic  religion  one  of  annihi- 
lation, of  absorption  into  Christianity  ;  the 
Parsee  religion  has  continued  to  exist  with 
some  ten  thousand  adherents.  Buddhism  only 
had  a  genuine  history  of  spiritual  might  during 
the  first  centuries  of  its  existence.  Islamism 
experienced  in  the  Middle  Ages  almost  a  more 
powerful  development  than  the  Christianity 
of  the  day,  but  since  then  stagnation  appears 
to  have  overtaken  it.  Christianity  alone  has 
had  a  great  and  mighty  history  up  till  our 
own  day. 

Now,  this  history  shows  us  how  Christianity 
has  been  able  to  amalgamate  with  the  life  of 
the  nations  as  no  other  religion  has  ever  done. 
No  other  religion  has  ever  possessed  this 
power.  Buddhism,  in  the  monotonous  form  of 
monasticism,  established  itself  as  part  of  the 
life  of  the  people  without  really  influencing 
it.  Islamism  assumed  among  the  separate 
nations  such  different  forms  that  it  can  scarcely 
be  said  to  have  formed  a  spiritual  unity. 
Christianity  unfolded  itself  in  an  abundance  of 
forms,    varied,   vital,   yet    all   connected.      The 


240        What  is   Religion  ? 

Gospel,  or  at  any  rate  the  largest  part  of  it,  is 
purely  subjective ;  whenever  it  assumed  the 
form  conditioned  by  the  age  this  was  merely 
a  transparent  veil.  And  its  spiritual  force 
was  always  so  strong  and  powerful  that  again 
and  again  it  was  able  to  create  from  the  con- 
temporary world  around  it  the  outer  covering, 
the  body,  which — in  spite  of  all  the  changes 
it  went  through — preserved  its  true  nature 
and  its  productive  power.  Thus  the  teaching 
of  the  Gospel  has  permeated  the  life  of  the 
people,  and  in  manifold  ways  has  expanded 
into  a  great  number  of  religions,  which,  never- 
theless, all  spring  from  the  same  root. 

An  attempt  will  now  be  made  to  sketch  the 
main  outlines  of  this  further  development 
of  Christianity.  The  Gospel  passed  through 
its  period  of  greatest  expansion  at  the  begin- 
ning ;  it  is  linked  to  the  person  of  Christ's 
greatest  disciple,  to  Paul,  the  great  Apostle  of 
the  heathen. 

Paul  before  all  else  was  the  means  of  carry- 
ing the  Gospel  from  Palestine  into  the  Grseco- 
Roman  world  of  culture,  from  the  Semitic  to 
the  Indo-Germanic  race.  Through  him  the 
Gospel  originally  proclaimed  in  the  Aramaic 
language  became  native  to  the  Greek  world. 
In  many  ways  Paul  continued  his  Master's  work 
in  splendid  fashion.     In  him  was  accomplished 


The  Nature  of  Christianity    241 

the  great  process  of  religious  freedom.  Paul 
finally  freed  religion  from  the  nation ;  he  burst 
the  last  fetters  which  bound  the  young  and 
aspiring  religion  to  Judaism.  He  freed  piety 
from  the  fetters  of  observance,  of  ceremony. 
"  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law." 

He  comprehended  Christianity  as  a  Church, 
as  a  new,  spiritual  religious  community  which 
united  the  people  ;  and  in  his  preaching  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  which  animates  Christians  he 
expresses  in  comprehensive  fashion  the  true 
inwardness  and  freedom,  the  unity  and  entity 
of  the  Christian  life  as  opposed  to  the  Jewish 
ideal  of  the  law. 

But  the  Gospel  experienced  in  and  through 
the  person  of  Paul  not  only  a  happy  expansion, 
but  also  essential  changes  and  dislocations  of 
its  elements. 

1.  The  most  important  and  the  most  essential 
of  these  was  that  there  was  evolved  from  Jesus' 
simple  Gospel  of  God  and  His  love  to  sinners 
belief  in  Christ.  In  His  preaching — I  shall 
return  to  this  subject  later — and  in  His  whole 
manner  of  life  Jesus  erected  a  clear  barrier 
between  God  and  Himself.  He  never  demanded  Z 
faith  in  Himself  in  the  sense  He  demanded 
faith  in  God.  But  even  in  the  first  community 
of  Christians,  belief  in  Christ,  who  would 
return  to  judge  the  world,  became  the  central 

17 


24-2        What  is  Religion  ? 

idea ;  as  Judge  of  the  world  Christ  already,  in 
a  certain  sense,  took  the  place  of  God.  Paul 
continued  this  process.  He  never  actually 
spoke  of  the  divinity  of  Christ;  indeed,  he 
drew  a  clearly  recognised  distinction  between 
God  and  Christ,  and  spoke  of  a  time  when, 
Christ  having  given  back  to  God  His  power, 
God  should  be  all  in  all,  and  Christ  the  first- 
born among  the  brethren.  Nevertheless  it  is 
quite  certain  that  to  Paul  the  Christian  belief 
meant  belief  in  Christ  as  a  God,  and  that  he 
considered  Christ  as  a  pre-existing  heavenly 
Being,  the  image  of  God.  It  cannot  be  denied 
that  on  the  one  hand  a  great  truth  is 
contained  in  these  formulae  of  Paul.  The 
absolute  significance  of  the  person  of  Christ 
to  His  community  is  here  expressed  with 
perfect  definiteness ;  Christ  means  to  His 
people,  in  accordance  with  His  nature,  more 
than  any  of  the  other  leaders  in  spiritual  life, 
with  whom  He  is  not  comparable.  But,  on 
the  other  hand,  in  the  deification  of  the  person 
of  Jesus,  in  the  comprehension  of  Christ 
as  a  supernatural  being  of  a  kind  absolutely 
different  to  us,  a  dangerous  path  was  opened 
up,  along  which  Christianity  was  to  lose  its  way 
in  a  multitude  of  confused  speculations. 

2.  From    this    time    onwards    Paul's    specific 
idea  of  redemption  was  developed.     Paul's  idea 


The  Nature  of  Christianity    243 

of  redemption  may  be  very  briefly  summarised. 
The  race  of  man,  from  the  time  of  Adam 
onwards,  is,  on  account  of  its  sensual,  carnal 
nature,  chained  with  the  iron  fetters  of  necessity 
to  sin  and  death,  and  in  the  manifestations  of 
both  heathenism  and  Judaism  it  sank  deeper 
and  deeper  into  the  depths  of  sin  and  destruc- 
tion. A  spark  of  higher  life  exists  in  man,  but 
this,  his  better  self,  is  powerless  by  itself.  So 
the  Redeemer,  a  Being  of  another  and  a  higher 
kind,  the  second  spiritual  man,  descended  from 
the  heavenly  heights  into  the  darkness  of  earth, 
in  order  to  deliver  us  from  the  degrading 
domination  of  the  flesh,  sin,  and  death,  and  to 
bring  us  into  the  world  of  freedom,  purity,  and 
spirit.  These  ideas  are  very  far  removed  from  ■  ^ 
the  simple  Gospel.  A  whole  new  world  of  ideas  ■ 
has  been  built  upon  the  Gospel.  In  this  Gospel 
of  Paul  we  hear  clearly  the  echo  of  Platonic 
conceptions  and  piety.  In  the  sharp  distinction 
drawn  between  the  material,  concrete  world 
and  the  spiritual  world ;  in  the  pessimistic 
judgment  of  this  world ;  in  the  proclamation 
that  the  better,  higher  self  of  man  lies  captive 
in  the  bonds  and  fetters  of  the  flesh ;  in  the 
intense  longing  for  (physical)  freedom  from  these 
bonds  ("  Who  shall  deliver  me  out  of  the  body 
of  this  death  ?  "  Rom.  vii.  24),  Paul  and  the  great 
Greek   philosopher  come   into   touch   with  one 


244        What  is  Religion  ? 

another.  Not,  of  course,  that  Paul  has  in  any 
sense  copied  Plato ;  the  ethical  character  of 
the  religion  of  salvation  preached  by  Paul 
stands  in  the  forefront,  and  instead  of  the 
Platonic  wise  man  who  delivers  himself,  there 
is  the  central  idea  of  Christ  as  the  Deliverer. 
It  was  a  great  work  that  Paul  accomplished. 
Here  for  the  first  time  is  shown  the  capacity 
of  Christianity — on  which  its  universality  rests 
— to  amalgamate  with  the  great  and  noble  ideas 
and  feelings  of  the  people  with  whom  it  is 
brought  in  contact.  Yet  at  the  same  time  we 
have  here  a  development  and  an  elaboration 
of  the  simple  Gospel  which  obliges  us  to  ask 
whether  we  are  right  in  considering  these  mani- 
festations as  the  definitive,  final  expression  of 
the  Gospel. 

3.  Paul's  idea  of  redemption  gains  a  still 
further  specific  stamp  in  that  he  connects  it 
with  the  fact  of  Christ's  death.  To  the  disciples 
the  death  of  Christ  was  a  great  and  mysterious 
problem,  and  it  remained  so  even  after  belief 
in  the  risen  Christ  had  triumphed.  At  first 
the  idea  of  an  external  salvation  was  accepted, 
and  believers  turned  to  the  prophecies  of  the 
Old  Testament  in  which  they  believed  the  death 
and  agony  of  the  Messiah  were  recorded.  Soon, 
however,  apparently  before  the  time  of  Paul, 
the  idea  of  redemption  was  expressed  in  "  The 


The  Nature  of  Christianity    245 

death  of  Christ  is  the  sacrifice  for  our  sins."  In 
an  age  and  in  a  land  where  it  was  accepted 
as  a  matter  of  course  that  God  was  honoured 
by  sacrifice,  and  that  the  sacrifice  had  the 
power  of  atoning  for  sins,  the  growth  of  a  belief 
in  the  atoning  sacrificial  significance  of  Christ's 
death  is  absolutely  comprehensible.  And  inter- 
mingled with  it  was  a  second  thought,  the 
thought  of  the  value  and  significance  of 
martyrdom.  In  that  wonderful  fifty-third 
chapter  of  Isaiah  this  idea  is  expressed  for 
the  first  time  in  marvellous  fashion.  It  is  a 
great  and  Divine  law  that  mankind  rises  to  its 
best  and  noblest  through  sufferings  and  agonies, 
that  the  individual  suffers  for  the  many,  the 
just  for  the  unjust.  "  Surely  he  hath  borne  our 
griefs,  and  carried  our  sorrows :  yet  we  did 
esteem  him  stricken,  smitten  of  God,  and 
afflicted."  In  the  great  period  of  martyrdom 
during  the  Syrian  religious  persecutions,  when 
the  Maccabees  rose  in  triumph  this  idea  once 
again  became  vital.  Jesus  was  probably  think- 
ing of  this  when  He  said  that  He  gave  His  own 
life  as  a  ransom  for  many,  and  told  His  disciples, 
through  the  symbol  of  the  Last  Supper,  that 
His  death  was  for  their  benefit.  These  ideas, 
already  closely  connected  with  one  another, 
were  accepted  by  Paul.  It  would  appear  that 
all  that  was  new  in  his  teaching  was  the  central 


246         What  is  Religion  ? 

position,  and  the  importance  given  to  the  Gospel 
of  salvation.  And  now  for  the  first  time  there 
arose  the  harsh  dogma  that  God  could  not 
pardon  sin  without  the  sacrificial  death  of 
Christ,  that  the  curse  of  the  Law  could  only  be 
removed  by  the  vicarious  sufferings  of  the  just. 
This  dogma  gives  the  absolutely  rational  answer 
to  the  problem  of  Christ's  crucifixion. 

But  at  what  a  price  !  If  Paul  had  been  bold 
enough  to  consider  his  sufferings  and  the  suf- 
ferings of  every  Christian  as  analogous  to  those 
of  Christ,  and  thus  softened  the  harshness  of 
that  conception,  the  conception  would  have 
gradually  vanished  entirely.  Thus  it  came 
about  that,  instead  of  the  Gospel's  categorical 
imperative  directed  towards  the  individual 
("  Do  that,  so  shalt  thou  live"),  belief  in  the  fact 
of  salvation  accomplished  for  us  occupied  the 
central  position  in  Christianity. 

4.  An  essential  alteration  of  the  simple 
Gospel  in  the  time  of  Paul  is  signified  by 
the  incorporation  of  specific  sacramental  acts 
into  the  Christian  life  of  the  community. 
Sacraments,  according  to  the  commonly 
accepted  view,  are  sacred  concrete  acts, 
through  which  spiritual  gifts  of  grace  are 
transmitted  to  man  by  mechanical  means,  or 
it  may  be  by  personal  belief,  personal  deeds. 
We  have  already  become  acquainted  with  this 


The  Nature  of  Christianity   247 

belief  in  the  efficacy  of  the  material  medium 
in  religion  in  the  religious  life  of  mankind  at 
a  lower  stage  of  civilisation.  It  is  a  charac- 
'teristic  of  religious  decadence  and  of  religious 
syncretism  (the  intermixture  of  religions),  in 
which  mysteries,  secret  sacramental  acts  and 
consecrations,  play  an  important  part,  and  it 
was  from  these  religions  that  Christianity  as 
a  higher  religion  arose.  Thus  we  now  find 
that  sacramental  conceptions  were  attached 
to  the  sacred  acts  of  Christianity — to  baptism 
and  the  Last  Supper  —  the  tribute  which 
Christianity  paid  to  the  heathen  world 
surrounding  it.  This  process,  it  is  true, 
was  not  evolved  by  Paul  or  furthered 
by  him ;  it  evolved  its  own  accomplishment. 
Paul  had  no  personal  inclination  towards 
what  was  sacramental.  Two  examples  will 
illustrate  the  fact  that  this  process  had 
extended  very  far  in  the  time  of  Paul.  In 
Corinth  there  already  existed  in  the  time  of 
Paul  the  custom  of  allowing  the  living  to  be 
baptized  for  the  dead,  so  that  the  latter 
might  be  given  the  gift  of  grace.  What  a 
magical,  mechanical  view  of  baptism,  which 
Paul,  at  any  rate,  did  not  condemn !  But 
Paul  comprehended  the  eating  and  drinking 
in  the  Communion  as  spiritual-material  inter- 
course with  the  risen  Lord,  just  as  he  believed 


248        What  is  Religion  ? 

that  the  heathens  in  their  sacrificial  feasts, 
the  Satanic  counterpart  of  the  Holy  Eucharist, 
had  a  very  real  spiritual  and  bodily  inter- 
course with  the  demons.  Hence  we  have  also 
the  belief  that  the  wrong  use  of  the  Cona- 
munion  involves  dangerous  material  results, 
such  as  sickness  or  death. 

Thus  a  multitude  of  new  elements  were 
introduced  into  the  Gospel  in  the  time  of 
Paul,  and  partly  through  him :  the  worship 
of  Christ ;  an  intense  and  narrow  belief  in 
salvation,  influenced  by  Platonic  ideas ;  the 
dogma  of  sacrifice  and  compensation;  the 
sacramental  idea.  Mention  must  also  be  made 
here  of  the  doctrine  of  justification,  which  will 
be  referred  to  again  when  the  Reformation  is 
dealt  with.  Paul  certainly  did  not  place  this  in 
the  centre  of  his  religion,  and  he  probably  only 
used  it  as  a  weapon  of  defence  against  the 
Judaism  based  on  law.  With  Paul,  however, 
begins  the  elaboration  of  Christianity. 

A  rapid  glance  will  now  be  cast  over  the 
later  stages  of  the  development  of  Christianity, 
which  must  ever  be  of  incalculable  value  to 
all  evangelical  Christians  and  supporters  of 
the  Reformation. 

First  of  all  we  must  look  to  the  end  of 
the  second  century  after  Christ.  Here  we 
are     confronted    by    the     powerful    apparition 


The  Nature  of  Christianity    249 

of  the  Christian  Church.  In  the  time  of 
Paul  the  idea  of  a  Church  existed,  but  to 
him  the  Church  meant  intense  spirituality. 
Now  the  Church  was  established  as  a  firmly- 
planted,  pliant,  diversified  organism.  She  had 
won  her  unity  by  means  of  a  collection  of 
holy  writings,  a  common  creed,  universally 
recognised  rules  of  faith.  Tradition  helped  the 
Scriptures,  and  this  tradition  did  not  stand 
alone.  At  the  head  of  the  Ohurch  were  the 
leaders,  the  bishops ;  and  the  bishops,  regarded 
as  one  body,  were  honoured  as  the  preservers 
of  pure  doctrine.  Theologians  obtained  the 
leadership  in  the  Church ;  theology  came  into 
existence.  The  Church  possessed  an  organised 
and  elaborate  Divine  worship,  which,  on  the 
whole,  was  a  worship  of  the  Almighty  in 
spirit  and  in  truth ;  yet  already  it  had  once 
more  assumed  ceremonial,  and  more  especi- 
ally sacramental,  elements.  Indeed,  there  had 
again  penetrated  into  the  Church  the  distinc- 
tion between  the  priests  and  the  laity.  It  is 
in  the  highest  degree  noteworthy  how  this 
ecclesiastical  form  of  Christianity  repeated  in 
many  points  the  organic  forms  of  the  religions 
of  the  law. 

When  we  consider  the  further  development 
of  this  Church  during  the  next  century  we 
shall    see    how,    on     the     whole,    the    various 


250        What  is  Religion  ? 

elements  introduced  into  the   Gospel  by  Paul 
were  further  perfected. 

1.  The  doctrine  of  the  person  of  Christ.  It 
would  appear  that  the  belief  in  the  divinity 
of  Christ  had  taken  firm  root  almost  from 
the  beginning  among  the  majority  of  believers 
belonging  to  the  Pagan-Christian  Church. 
They  had  no  understanding  of  the  subtler 
distinctions  still  observed  in  the  Pauline 
theology.  To  the  mass  of  men  who  had 
emerged  from  pagan  polytheism  it  was  quite 
an  easy  matter  to  believe  in  the  divinity  of 
Christ;  but  for  the  leaders,  the  learned  men — 
and  the  theologians,  in  whom  the  essentially 
monotheistic  idea  of  the  Christian  religion 
had  arisen — this  presented  a  great  difficulty. 
For  a  long  time  an  energetic  attempt  was 
made  courageously  to  maintain  the  subordi- 
nation of  the  Son  to  the  Father.  But  finally 
the  lay  interest  in  religion  was  victorious, 
and  this — we  shall  immediately  see  why — 
could  only  be  satisfied  with  the  dogma  of 
absolute  equality.  In  the  Nicene  Creed 
believers  subscribed  to  the  doctrine  that  God 
the  Father  and  God  the  Son — and  very  soon 
the  Holy  Ghost  was  added — were  like  Beings — 
like  Beings,  yet  not  identical ;  three  persons, 
yet  one  God.  The  later  creeds — for  example, 
the    so-called    Athanasian     Creed — are    full    of 


The  Nature  of  Christianity   251 

these  contradictions,  of  a  kind  appropriately 
described  by  a  witty  artist  as  "  wooden  iron." 
But  we  have  not  yet  finished  with  these 
contradictions  and  difficulties.  If  Christ  is 
God,  what  is  the  relation  between  the  Divine 
nature  and  the  human  nature,  between  the 
Godhead  of  Christ  and  the  fact  of  the  Incar- 
nation? The  Council  of  Chalcedon,  indeed, 
established  this  absolute  contradiction  :  that  two 
natures  are  in  Christ — later  it  even  asserted 
two  wills — yet  there  is  but  one  person,  and 
these  two  natures  exist  in  Him  unmixed  and 
unchanged,  undivided  and  inseparable ! 

2.  The  idea  of  redemption  and  sacrifice. 
The  idea  of  redemption  in  the  form  expressed 
by  Paul — that  is  to  say,  belief  in  a  super- 
natural Redeemer,  absolutely  different  in 
nature  from  us — remained  the  central  idea  i 
of  the  Christian  Church.  In  the  Eastern 
Church  the  question  of  the  nature  of  the 
Redeemer,  traces  of  which  are  to  be  found 
in  Paul's  teaching,  comes  to  the  front.  The 
final  object  of  the  believer  appears  to  have 
been  the  putting  on  of  the  Divine  nature 
the  highest  object  of  salvation,  immortality. 
The  belief  in  redemption  may  perhaps  be 
comprehended  in  the  sentence,  the  Divine 
Christ  must  become  man,  so  that  we  men 
may  at  some  time  become  divine.     It  is  clear, 


252         What  is  Religion  ? 

therefore,  that  in  such  a  religion  the  belief 
in  the  divinity  of  Christ  would  occupy  a 
central  position.  In  the  West,  on  the  con- 
trary, the  idea  of  redemption  became  operative 
in  definite  relation  to  Christ's  crucifixion  and 
its  moral,  or,  to  speak  more  correctly,  its 
juristic  significance.  Here  the  doctrine  of  the 
eternal  service  which  Christ  rendered  man- 
kind by  His  death,  and  of  the  eternal, 
atoning  significance  of  His  sacrifice,  reaches  its 
culmination. 

3.  The  idea  of  the  Sacrament.  The  sacra- 
mental idea  tends  more  and  more  to  over- 
shadow piety  in  the  Christian  Church.  A 
whole  new  world  of  ideas  and  dogmas  was 
created.  A  mass  of  superstitions  now  entered 
into  Christianity.  From  the  third  century 
onwards  the  Sacrament  dominated  the  whole 
Christian  worship  of  God.  In  the  centre  of 
this  service  was  the  holy  Mass,  the  sacred 
partaking  of  the  Communion,  which  was 
regarded  as  a  repetition  of  Christ's  sacrificial 
death.  The  priesthood  experienced  an  enor- 
mous strengthening  of  its  authority.  In  the 
Greek  Church,  especially,  the  belief  in  Sacra- 
ments, chiefly  owing  to  the  influence  of  the 
natural  view  of  redemption,  killed  all  spiritual 
piety. 

4.  A   new  and  powerful    problem   now  con- 


The  Nature  of  Christianity   253 

fronted  the  Church.  The  Church  conquered 
the  heathen  world ;  it  became  a  State  Church. 
The  early  Church  had  been  hostile  to  the 
world  and  to  culture ;  the  later  Church 
showed  itself  friendly  to  the  world,  and 
desired  to  rule  in  the  world.  The  hatred  of 
the  world  was  concentrated  in  the  monasti- 
cism  which  now  arose,  which  attracted  to 
itself  the  best  and  noblest  spirits  of  Christen- 
dom. In  the  East  monasticism  preserved  its 
ascetic,  quietistic  character,  but  in  the  more 
vigorous  West  it  developed  into  a  civilising 
power  of  the  highest  importance.  In  the 
West,  as  in  the  East,  the  Church  knew  how 
to  make  use  of  this  movement,  which  was  at 
first  almost  revolutionary,  and  to  appear  as 
both  rulers  and  ascetics. 

Gradually  the  early  Church  split  into  divi- 
sions, into  the  Eastern  Church  and  the  Western 
Church,  the  separation  already  beginning  when 
the  Roman  Empire  was  divided  into  an  Eastern 
and  a  Western  empire,  and  being  completed 
in  the  Middle  Ages. 

In  the  Eastern  Church — the  Greek  Catholic 
Church — Christianity  on  the  whole  sank  to  a 
lower  stage  of  religious  life.  Its  soul  and  its 
capacity  to  civilise  vanished ;  dogma  was  con- 
solidated ;  no  progress  was  made ;  the  believers 
still  clung  to  dogmas  which  were  ever  becoming 


2  54        What  is  Religion  ? 

more  and  more  truly  incomprehensible.  More 
than  ever  sacramental  ideas  dominated  religion  ; 
religion  sank  to  a  system  of  outward,  self- 
sufficing  acts  and  ceremonies,  to  be  scrupulously 
maintained.  Added  to  this  there  was  the  rever- 
ence paid  to  saints  and  relics,  and  a  decadent 
form  of  image-worship  approaching  to  fetich- 
worship.  The  whole  of  the  later  pagan  Greek 
world,  with  its  mysterious  character,  awoke  to 
new  life.  Religion  became  entirely  custom, 
usage,  as  it  had  been  when  it  was  at  the 
national  stage  of  religious  life ;  and  from  the 
time  when  the  Byzantine  Empire  was  subdued 
by  advancing  Islam  the  Oriental  Church  was 
split  up  into  a  number  of  insignificant,  degene- 
rate Churches  closely  united  to  the  smaller 
Christian  nations  which  were  now  arising  in  the 
East.  Only  in  the  Russian  Church,  which,  as 
well  as  the  Russian  people,  has  experienced  a 
great  history,  and  is  experiencing  it  now — one 
recalls  to  mind  Tolstoy's  description  of  Russian 
peasant  life — does  there  appear  to  be  signs  of 
manifold  energies  and  undreamt-of  possibilities 
for  expansion. 

In  contrast  to  the  Greek  Church,  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  did  not  lose  its  spiritual  gene- 
rating power.  The  Western  Church  from  the 
beginning  was  less  bound  to  the  State.  It  had 
a  history,  and  made  history,  and  what  a  history 


The  Nature  of  Christianity   255 

it  was  ! — the  history  of  the  Popes  of  the  Middle 
Ages  and  the  Crusades.  Its  theology,  aroused 
by  the  philosophy  of  Islam,  reached  its  zenith 
in  the  Middle  Ages.  The  Roman  Church  not 
only  developed  the  old  traditional  ecclesiastical 
elements  (dogma,  tradition,  Christology,  the 
idea  of  redemption  and  compensation),  but  quite 
new  elements  now  gained  power  and  influence. 

1.  Into  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  the  spirit 
of  Roman  law  entered.  While  the  Greek 
Catholic  Church  sank  almost  to  the  level  of 
national  paganism,  in  the  Roman  Church  law 
and  religion  formed  a  close  union,  as  was  the 
case  in  the  religions  of  the  law.  Religion 
becomes  simply  a  legal  contract  between  God 
and  man.  Baptism,  for  example,  receives  the 
significance  of  a  sacrament  {sacraTnentum), 
The  word  "sacrament"  originally  meant  the 
oath  of  fealty  which  the  Roman  soldier  had 
to  take.  Christianity  became  a  system  of 
obligations  which  must  be  absolutely  carried 
oufc.  Faults  were  to  be  atoned  for  by  a 
second  system  of  obligatory  penances,  somewhat 
analogous  to  the  penance  system  of  the  Persian 
Church.  The  Church  is  the  great  penitential 
establishment  that  guards  this  system  of  atone- 
ments. The  death  of  Christ  is  really  regarded 
from  the  legal  point  of  view  of  service  rendered 
and  atonement  executed.     The   Church  is  the 


256        what  is  Religion  ? 

administrator  of  the  inestimable  treasures  of 
Christ  and  His  saints  ;  ceremony,  religious 
custom,  stand  in  the  forefront  of  religion. 

2.  In  addition  to  the  specific  Roman  legal 
spirit,  there  is  the  spirit  of  Roman  world- 
empire.  The  position  of  the  Church  of  Rome 
was  from  the  beginning  quite  other  than  that 
of  the  great  metropolis  of  the  East.  Rome 
was  the  only  apostolic  bishopric  in  the  West; 
and  whilst  in  the  East  the  patriarchates  rivalled 
one  another,  the  Roman  Church  remained  in- 
disputably the  first  in  the  West.  After  the 
political  power  of  the  Western  empire  was 
destroyed,  and  the  influence  of  Byzantium 
disappeared  more  and  more,  then  Rome  be- 
came the  political  power  of  the  West.  Rome 
stood  like  a  rock  amid  the  fierce  surgings  and 
storms  of  the  wanderings  of  the  nations.  She 
took  upon  herself  the  mighty  task  of  converting 
and  civilising  the  barbaric  peoples.  Thus  she 
drew  to  herself  the  spirit  of  world-domination. 
From  the  period  of  the  rise  of  the  mighty 
figures  of  the  Frankish  emperors,  quite  un- 
connected with  the  East  and  Constantinople, 
Rome  reached  the  height  of  its  political  power 
in  conjunction  with  the  German '  Empire,  now 
striving  to  gain  ascendancy.  Through  the 
centuries  Rome  has  striven  for  world-domi- 
nation,  and   up   to    our    own   day   the   Church 


The  Nature  of  Christianity    257 

of  Rome  has  never  abandoned  her  political 
character. 

And  within  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  itself 
Rome  succeeded  in  its  struggle  for  domination 
to  the  utmost  limit.  Even  in  our  own  day 
the  idea  of  the  Church  has  been  definitely- 
broadened.  In  the  Middle  Ages  it  stood  firmly- 
established,  with  its  great  Councils,  so  that  the 
Councils  (i.e.,  the  Christian  bishops  as  a  body) 
stood  above  the  Pope,  could  decide  questions 
of  faith,  and  make  and  unmake  Popes.  Now, 
after  centuries  of  struggle  and  friction  between 
Councils  and  Popes,  when  the  Papacy  practically 
won  the  victory,  Rome,  by  the  Vatican  Council 
of  1870,  which  established  the  dogma  of  the 
infallibility  of  the  Pope  in  all  matters  of  belief, 
has  attained  lasting,  unrivalled  domination  in 
the  Roman  Church. 

3.  But  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the 
Roman  Church  rejoiced  in  the  possession  of 
a  great  personality  of  almost  prophetic  power. 
It  is  only  necessary  to  read  the  first  chapter 
of  St.  Augustine's  "  Confessions"  to  recognise 
that  here  we  are  brought  face  to  face  with 
a  personality  of  the  highest  rank.  Wherever 
true  vital  religion  has  shone  forth  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  we  recognise  the  influence  of 
St.  Augustine.  The  piety  of  St.  Augustine  is, 
to  a  certain  extent,  a  revival  of  Paul's   piety. 

18 


258         What  is  Religion  ? 

In  just  the  same  way  everything  is  based  on 
the  opposition  between  sin  and  grace,  between 
perdition  and  redemption,  upon  the  absolute 
incapacity  and  bondage  of  the  human  will,  and 
the  all-sufficing  Divine  grace,  resting  on  predesti- 
nation. But  the  Divine  grace — and  here  is  the 
point  where  St.  Augustine  differed  from  St  Paul 
— is  indissolubly  connected  with  the  means  of 
grace  offered  by  the  Catholic  Church.  Thus  the 
influence  of  St.  Augustine  has  led,  not  only  to 
the  intensifying  and  deepening  of  the  religious 
life,  but  also  to  the  development  of  ecclesiasti- 
cism  and  outward  observances. 

4.  As  the  fourth  characteristic  of  the  Roman 
Church  we  must  finally  mention  Western 
monasticism,  which,  as  has  already  been  said, 
possessed  a  moral  and  civilising  significance  of 
the  highest  importance  quite  different  from  that 
of  the  Greek  Church.  At  the  time  when  the 
Roman  Papacy  was  at  the  height  of  its  power 
monasticism  likewise  was  at  its  zenith.  By  the 
side  of  the  powerful  figure  of  Innocent  IV. 
stands  the  simple,  humble  one  of  St.  Francis 
of  Assisi,  who,  so  far  as  his  influence  on  the 
life  of  the  Middle  Ages  is  concerned,  may,  in 
a  certain  sense,  be  placed  by  St.  Augustine. 
The  influence  of  his  personality  in  literature 
extended  to  the  time  of  Dante,  in  pictorial  art 
beyond   Giotto,  the   delineator   of   St.  Francis's 


The  Nature  of  Christianity    259 

life,    and    Fra    Angelico    to    Fra    Bartolomeo 
and  Raphael. 

Up  till  now  we  have  traced  the  history  of 
the  elaboration  of  Christianity.  For  fifteen 
hundred  years  the  Gospel  has  unfolded  itself 
before  our  eyes  in  ever-varied,  manifold  and 
diversified  forms.  Now  we  approach  the  era 
of  release  and  simplification. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE    FUTURE    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

IN  answering  the  question  concerning  the 
future  of  Christianity  it  will  be  best,  first  of 
all,  to  fix  our  attention  upon  the  final,  definitive 
form  and  development  which  Christianity  has 
assumed.  The  Reformation  was  a  mighty  act 
of  freedom  for  Christianity  accomplished  by  the 
German  spirit,  a  return  to  simplicity  and  truth. 
First  of  all  the  Reformation  signifies  the 
destruction  of  the  whole  outward  fabric  of  the 
Roman  Church,  to  which  more  than  a  thousand 
years  had  contributed,  the  abolition  of  the 
political  and  State  character  of  the  Church,  the 
breaking  down  of  all  outward  authorities  on 
which  people  had  formerly  relied.  Before  the 
upright  spirit  of.  the  Wittenberg  monk  burdens, 
heavy  as  mountains,  faded  away.  The  Church 
could  no  longer  be  the  final  authority  in  matters 
of  doctrhie  ;  the  Pope  himself,  the  Councils,  the 
delegates  of  the  whole  Church,  could  all  make 

260 


The  Future  of  Christianity    261 

mistakes.  Luther,  in  alliance  with  the  newly- 
awakened  knowledge  of  the  Universities,  and 
the  scientific  consciousness,  appealed  from  all 
authority,  all  tradition  of  the  last  fifteen 
hundred  years,  to  the  Holy  Scriptures.  But  he 
did  not  even  stop  here,  for  the  Scriptures  were 
not  authoritative  to  him  in  every  single  word. 
He  made  important  distinctions,  he  gave 
currency  to  the  great  principle,  which  was  not, 
however,  further  developed  by  him,  that  the 
Bible  is  authoritative  as  long  as  it  is  in  harmony 
with  Christ.  If,  indeed,  he  often  departed  from 
this  bold  standpoint,  yet — although  in  harmony 
with  modern  biblical  criticism  which  regards 
the  Bible  as  the  historic  source  of  the  revelation 
which  culminated  in  Christ — he  gave  the  Bible 
its  right  to  be  in  the  Evangelical  Church. 

The  Reformation  further  signifies  the  freeing 
of  evangelical  piety  and  morality  from  a  mass 
of  external  observances  which  had  accumulated 
in  the  course  of  history.  With  the  casting  off 
of  indulgences  a  process  began  which  was  never 
to  cease.  The  substance  and  central  idea  of  the 
Catholic  worship  of  God,  the  sacrificial  Mass, 
the  privileges  of  the  priesthood,  the  whole 
system  of  penances  and  atonements,  the  (Papal) 
dues,  pilgrimages,  the  worship  of  the  saints 
and  the  Virgin,  and  many  other  things  were 
now   destroyed.     It  was   an   enormous   release. 


262        What  is  Religion  ? 

Luther,  relying  on  St.  Paul  and  his  attacks  on 
the  Jewish  justification  by  the  law,  set  his 
doctrine  of  faith  alone  against  that  of  works 
preached  by  the  Catholic  Church.  Thus  the 
essential  nature  of  the  Lutheran  Reformation 
may  be  conveniently  summed  up  by  stating  that 
Luther  placed  the  doctrine  of  justification  by 
faith  in  the  forefront  of  the  Christian  reli- 
gion. As  a  matter  of  fact  he  did  much  more 
than  this ;  he  once  more  revealed  religion  as 
religion,  he  freed  it  from  all  its  Romish 
deformities.  With  authority  he  announced  the 
ancient  truth  that  religion  consists  in  the  sur- 
render of  the  heart  to  the  merciful  God,  who  is 
ever  gracious  towards  us  and  our  acts,  and  in 
the  directing  of  our  conscience  towards  Him  ; 
religion  was  an  act  of  the  whole,  living  person- 
ality, and  not  just  the  performance  of  good 
deeds. 

Luther,  when  he  destroyed  these  externals, 
also  destroyed  the  Sacrament  in  its  peculiar 
significance,  and  with  it  sacramental  religion. 
He  cast  on  one  side  all  the  accretions  of  the 
Catholic  sacramental  religion  which  went  be- 
yond the  teaching  of  the  Bible.  But  he  did 
more  than  this.  Perpetually,  and  to  the  very 
end  of  his  life,  he  emphasised  the  fact  that 
everything  depended  on  the  Word,  that  it 
was  the  Word  alone  that  was  efficient  in  the 


The  Future  of  Christianity     263 

Sacrament  itself,  and  that  the  Sacrament  was 
only  a  special  form  of  the  Word,  and  thus  he 
maintained  in  the  most  decisive  manner  the 
spiritual  religion  of  the  Gospel  as  opposed  to 
all  physical  conceptions,  and  here  he  reversed 
a  tendency  which  had  begun  in  the  time  of 
the  New  Testament.  It  is  no  argument  against 
this  estimate  of  the  Reformation,  however, 
that  Luther,  in  his  struggle  with  the  fanatics — 
the  Anabaptists  and  the  followers  of  Zwingli — 
re-admitted,  both  to  his  own  mind  and  to  his 
Church,  the  Catholic  view  of  the  Sacrament ; 
for  by  his  fundamental  attitude  towards  the 
sacrament  he  secured  for  the  Evangelical 
Church,  for  ever,  the  purely  spiritual  (or 
symbolical)  view  of  the  sacred  acts  of  Chris- 
tianity (baptism  and  the  Communion). 

The  last  and  the  most  important  thing, 
perhaps,  that  Luther's  Reformation  effected 
was  the  complete  change  in  the  attitude  of 
Christianity  towards  the  secular  world,  with  its 
moral  duties  and  its  work.  He  thus  entirely 
destroyed  the  twofold  character  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  that  peculiar  and  inconsistent  attitude 
towards  the  world,  that  clever  combination  in 
pursuance  of  which  the  Catholic  Church  was  at 
once  lords  of  the  world  and  fugitives  from  the 
world.  He  cast  aside  the  last  remnant  of  the 
ascetic  character  of  Christianity — at  any  rate  in 


264         What  is   Religion  ? 

principle.  There  was  only  one  way  of  serving 
God — by  living  a  moral,  good  life.  The  man- 
servant and  the  maid-servant  who  served  their 
master,  the  mother  who  looked  after  her  child, 
the  father  who  maintained  his  household,  the 
prince  who  ruled  over  his  land,  performed  God's 
work  as  well  as,  if  not  better  than,  the  priest 
and  the  monk.  The  Gospel  teaches  a  secular 
morality,  the  common  daily  life  becomes  sacred. 
This  is  a  great  and  mighty  progress  ;  indeed,  one 
may  say  that  the  Reformation  developed  seeds 
and  thoughts  which  are  scarcely  recognisable  in 
the  original  Gospel,  and  which  were,  until  then, 
completely  dormant  and  hidden. 

This  is  the  last,  definitive  stage  of  development 
which  the  Gospel  passed  through.  The  Reforma- 
tion, naturally,  had  its  limitations  and  draw- 
backs. Luther,  and  especially  the  Churches  which 
arose  after  him — the  Evangelical  Churches  in 
particular — took  over  from  the  Church  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  without  due  consideration,  many 
ideas  which  are  no  longer  considered  to  be  of 
permanent  value.  I  will  briefly  name  these  : 
the  doctrine  of  the  verbal  inspiration  of  the 
Bible,  which  has  gained  an  all-powerful  influence 
in  the  Evangelical  Churches,  which  are  based 
on  the  Bible  alone  ;  the  whole  of  the  Christo- 
logical  dogma  with  all  its  metaphysical  specu- 
lations, such  as  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  and 


The   Future  of  Christianity    265 

the  doctrine  of  vicarious  suffering  in  the  form 

in  which  it  was  embodied  in  the  Middle  Ages  ;        e-, 

St.    Augustine's    principle,    which    was    entirely  \     * 

animated  by  the  contradiction  between  sin  and 

grace. 

***** 

This  question  of  what  the  Reformation  has 
bequeathed  to  us  in  the  matter  of  problems, 
of  work  for  the  purer  development  of  the 
Gospel,  is  connected  with  our  inquiry  con- 
cerning the  future  of  Christianity.  We  must 
now  investigate  this  matter  somewhat  more 
closely. 

First  of  all  it  must  be  said  that  the  question  of 
the  future  of  Christianity  is  the  question  of  the 
future  of  religion.  For  what  we  have  learned  in 
the  course  of  our  wanderings  through  the  history 
of  religion  is  precisely  this  fact,  that  the 
Christian  religion  is  absolutely  superior  to  all 
the  other  religions,  and  that  Christianity 
represents  the  highest  point  which  religious 
development  has  reached. 

And,  indeed,  not  only  in  Christianity  is  the 
highest  point  reached,  but  in  it  all  former  lines 
of  religious  thought  appear  to  converge.  First 
of  all  let  us  observe  the  external  position  which 
Christianity  holds  in  history.  It  stands  quite  by 
itself,  arising  a  good  five  hundred  years  after 
the    great    age    of    the    prophetic    revival    of 


c 


266         What  is  Religion  ? 

religion.  Of  all  these  prophetic  religions,  only 
the  Jewish  religion  reached  a  higher  stage  in  the 
form  of  Christianity.  Islamism,  which  arose 
some  five  hundred  years  later,  was  a  distinctly 
retrograde  step. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  real,  inward 
superiority  of  Christianity. 

1.  In  Christianity  every  specific  national 
element  in  religion  was  finally  overthrown, 
and  yet  Christianity,  in  a  far  higher  degree 
than  Islamism  and  Buddhism,  was  able,  in  the 
long  course  of  its  history,  to  penetrate  into 
the  innermost  being  of  the  most  different 
nations,  so  that  we  now  speak  of  a  Roman 
and  a  German,  a  Slavonic  and  an  Armenian, 
an  English  and  a  North  American  Christianity. 

2.  In  the  Christian  religion,  religion  as  simple, 
spiritual  belief  in  the  living  God  is  revealed  in 
its  purest  form,  and  most  free  from  all  outward 
things  (forms  of  worship,  ceremonies).  The 
Gospel  is  in  its  very  nature  absolutely  a  thing  of 
the  spirit,  and  in  the  course  of  its  history 
Christianity,  in  spite  of  backslidings,  has  always 
been  able  to  return  to  this  inner  light  and 
spirituality.  And  it  is  just  because  the  Gospel 
is  purely  spiritual  that  it  has  been  able  to  reveal 
itself  in  the  most  varied  outward  forms  and 
wrappings.  Compared  with  Christianity,  how 
overburdened    with    outward    ceremonies,     for 


The  Future  of  Christianity    267 

example,  Islamism  is  (we  think  of  its  five 
fundamental  principles),  or  the  Hindoo  religion, 
with  its  strict  prohibition  against  omitting  the 
smallest  detail  of  the  religious  hfe  ! 

3.  Christianity,  in  freeing  religion  from 
nationality  and  ceremonial,  accomplished  the 
deliverance  of  the  individual  in  religion,  and 
supported  the  principle  of  individualism  in  its 
clearest  and  strongest  form.  It  did  not,  how- 
ever, isolate  the  individual,  but  strenuously 
directed  his  footsteps  into  the  paths  of  human 
society. 

[  4.  Christianity  is  eminently  a  moral  religion. 
It  shares  with  the  religions  of  the  law  this 
voluntary  character,  and  in  common  with  these 
it  has  as  its  central  belief  the  idea  of  justice 
animating  the  will ;  but  in  the  purity  and 
energy  of  its  morality  Christianity  is  far  in 
advance  of  these  religions.  Purified  religion 
here  stands  in  close  conjunction  with  purified 
morality. 

5.  Christianity  is  eminently  a  religion  of 
redemption.  It  points  to  a  higher  life,  and  says 
that  this  earthly  life  is  not  the  highest.  But 
it  by  no  manner  of  means  despises  this  life.  It 
unfolds  the  higher  element  that  exists  in  it,  and 
finds  this  pre-eminently  in  the  moral  rather 
than  the  intellectual  nature.  Thus  Christianity 
is   the   religion   of    moral   redemption,   and   its 


1^1 


I 


r 


268         What  is  Religion  ? 

highest  good  is  the  forgiveness  of  sin  and 
guilt,  and  the  freeing  of  the  will  towards  the 
good. 

6.  As  Christianity  is  a  religion  of  moral 
redemption  it  entertains  no  hostile  disposition, 
but  rather  shows  itself  helpful,  towards  the  life 
of  mankind  and  its  work  of  civilisation.  Even 
in  the  time  when  Christianity  found  in  monas- 
ticism  the  central  point  of  its  existence  it  was 
a  branch  of  this  same  monasticism  that  became 
a  civilising  force  of  the  highest  importance. 
(We  may  compare  with  this  the  Buddhist 
^\  monasticism.)  It  is  no  mere  chance  that  has 
made  the  Christian  nations  the  leaders  of 
civilisation.  But  again,  the  Christian  religion 
never  spent  itself  in  the  work  of  the  world  and 
its  development  (as,  for  example,  the  Persian 
religion  did).  It  regarded  all  this  work  as  a 
means  to  an  end  ;  it  proclaimed  to  the  individual 
that  he  should  consciously  aspire  to  carry  out 
God's  commands  under  His  all-seeing  eyes,  to 
dwell  in  peace  with  God,  and  to  live  under  the 
shadow  of  eternity. 

Thus  once  more  it  must  be  said  that  the 
question  of  the  future  of  Christianity  is  the 
question  of  the  future  of  religion.  We  will  not 
here  touch  upon  the  question  of  whether  within 
a  measurable  distance  of  time  Christianity, 
which     now     includes     perhaps     a     third     of 


The  Future  of  Christianity    269 

humanity,    will    be    the    only    religion    to    be 
considered. 

But — if  there  is  to  be  only  one  religion — it  is  ^ 
Christianity  which  must  be  the  religion  of  the  ■ 
progressive   nations   of    the   earth.     From   this 
point  of  view  no  other  religion  can  be  compared 
with  it.     History  speaks   plainly   here.     Every 
attempt    to    graft    the     Buddhist    religion    on 
European  culture  has  been  unsuccessful.     When 
Schopenhauer,  half  a  century  ago,  found  in  this 
Oriental  religion  the  last  word  of  wisdom,  and 
honoured  Buddha  as  his  patron  saint,  the   ex- 
planation of  this  disposition  of  mind  is   to   be 
found   in   the   misery    and    stagnation    of    the 
system  of    petty   German  States   under  which 
Schopenhauer  grew  up.     In  an  age  which   still   . 
lives  under  the  shadow  of  the  mighty  Bismarck,  i^'V^^ 
an  age  of  national  revival,  of  the  social  question, 
of  the  great  success  of  the  Nietzsche-Zarathustra  .      • 
teaching,  the  followers  of  the  great  philosopher 
can   only  be   regarded  as  very  curious   saints. 
The   European   Buddhists   may  fix  their  head- 
quarters in  the  metropolis  of  France,  which  is 
ready  to  receive  anything  strange  and  morbid ; 
here  and  there  they  may  gain  some  following, 
in    Germany,   but    all    these    efforts    will    pass 
powerless  away. 

In   still  another    sense    the   question   of  the 
future  of  Christianity  is  the  question  of  the 


270        what  is  Religion  ? 

future  of  religion.  This  proposition  concerns 
those  who  are  of  opinion  that  they  can  have 
and  preserve  religion  while  denying  the  religion 
— that  is,  Christianity — which  is  based  on  his- 
tory. Christianity  is  the  only  living  religion 
that  concerns  us.  This  is  a  fact  of  enormous 
importance.  When  we  follow  carefully  the 
course  of  history  we  see  that  the  development 
of  religion  proceeds  at  longer  and  longer 
intervals,  at  intervals  of  centuries,  at  inter- 
vals of  a  thousand  years.  The  higher  the 
religious  life  of  man  ascends  the  more  firmly 
fixed  are  his  beliefs.  New  forms  of  belief  be- 
come more  and  more  rare.  They  are  always  in 
the  nature  of  a  creative  miracle,  they  arise 
amid  a  great  convulsion  of  human  life.  There 
is  a  rending  of  the  elements,  an  upheaval  of 
the  earth;  and  yet  there  are  men  to-day  who 
believe  that  a  new  religion  can  be  made  in  a 
moment.  They  declare  hastily  that  Christianity 
is  worn  out,  cast  it  on  one  side,  patch  together 
a  few  variegated  shreds  of  belief  and  call  that 
modern  religion !  Things  are  not  arranged 
quite  so  simply.  He  who  proclaims  in  this 
round  fashion  that  Christianity  is  a  failure 
proclaims  at  the  same  time  that  he  is  without 
religious  feeling. 

And  on  this  account  the  future  of  Christianity 
is  so  highly  important.     Now,  the  question  of  its 


The  Future  of  Christianity    271 

future  is  the  question  of  its  capacity  for  further 
development.  People  may  here  object  and  say, 
But  is  a  development  required?  Does  not  the 
old  faith  suffice?  Our  answer  is  that  this 
development  is  required  because  since  the 
Reformation  the  whole  structure  of  human  life 
has  entirely  altered,  and  history  and  experience 
teach  us  that  when  this  happens  religion 
assumes  other  forms. 

In  order  to  answer  the  question,  there- 
fore, whether,  and  in  what  direction,  the 
development  of  Christianity  is  necessary,  we 
must  consider  first  the  change  in  human 
society  since  the  Reformation.  What  strikes 
us  here  as  the  most  distinctive  and  important 
fact  is,  briefly,  the  rise  and  development  of 
a  culture  independent  of  all  ecclesiastical 
and  religious  influence.  The  early  Church  was 
hostile  to  culture,  while  the  culture  of  the 
Middle  Ages  was  entirely  dependent  on  the 
Church.  The  Renaissance  marks  the  earliest 
transitory  rise  of  a  magnificent  culture  inde- 
pendent of  the  Church.  But  this  culture,  so  far 
as  its  outward  duration  was  concerned,  was  but 
ephemeral.  The  influence  and  the  interest  of 
the  Church  were  not  at  this  time  destroyed,  but 
simply  cast  on  one  side,  a  neglect  which  later 
was  to  be  rued  bitterly.  It  was  only  in  the 
Protestant   countries  —  Holland    and    England 


272         What  is  Religion  ? 

took  the  lead  here — that  modern  culture  was 
developed.  First  of  all,  on  the  material  side,  we 
see  the  rise  of  modern  astronomy  and  natural 
science  (Newton),  and  modern  technical  know- 
ledge (machinery,  world-wide  industry).  Cor- 
responding to  this  effort  to  control  the  powers 
of  Nature  there  is  the  endeavour  to  investigate 
and  control  the  laws  of  human  society,  and  now 
the  modern  sciences,  politics,  political  economy, 
and  statistics  arise.  Thus  there  came  into 
existence  a  thoroughly  rational  system  of 
ethics,  free  from  religious  influence,  based  on 
the  idea  of  human  society,  a  whole  conception 
which  may  perhaps  be  comprehended  under  the 
name  of  Deism.  This  culture  is  not  revolu- 
tionary; it  is  not  even  directly  hostile  to  the 
Church  ;  it  is  simply  secular.  Enormously  self- 
conscious,  with  an  intense  and  constant  joy  in 
the  material,  concrete  side  of  life,  full  of  varied 
interests,  with  both  feet  planted  firmly  on  the 
earth,  culture  cries  out  to  us,  "  Behold,  I  am 
here  !  " — The  Dutch  and  Flemish  artists,  Shake- 
speare above  all  others,  may  be  taken  as 
symbols  of  eternal  significance. 

The  consequence  of  this  was  an  enormous  set- 
back to  all  religious  life.  It  must  always  be 
accounted  to  the  honour  of  German  enlighten- 
ment, German  rationalism,  that  it  has  ever 
strenuously    maintained    the    close    connection 


The  Future  of  Christianity    273 

between  the  Christian  religion  and  modern  cul- 
ture. German  idealism  in  poetry  and  philosophy- 
has  alTvays  enriched  and  strengthened  the  cul- 
ture of  rationalism,  especially  on  its  religious 
side.  But  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  especially  in 
its  general  attitude,  it  has  continued  its  works 
on  the  basis  of  "rationalism,"  on  the  basis  of 
the  self-evident  proposition  that  there  is  an  in- 
dependent culture  resting  on  mankind  which  is 
valuable  in  itself  and  which  certainly  needs  no 
confirmation  from  the  Church.  In  this  the 
nineteenth  century  has  introduced  no  ne^v  idea. 
If  we  study  carefully  the  intellectual  life  of 
Germany,  we  see  that  in  the  eighteenth  century 
all  energies  were  concentrated  at  one  point 
and  proceeded  to  develop  from  that  point.  On 
the  one  hand,  in  the  domain  of  religious  life 
there  is  during  the  whole  of  the  century  a 
strong  movement  towards  narrowness  and 
ecclesiastical  consolidation,  and  proportionately 
a  loss  of  religious  influence  on  the  community. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  eighteenth  century  marks 
the  beginning  for  Germany  of  the  advancing 
powers  of  technical  science,  enormous  trade, 
and  international  intercourse,  together  with 
the  dominating  Tvorld-wide  influence  of  Anglo- 
French  positivism  and  materialism,  so  that 
the  Germans  fall  far  below  the  unity  and 
completeness  of  idealistic  culture.     Yet,  in  spite 

19 


274        What  is  Religion  ? 

of  all  these  currents  and  counter-currents  one 
important  new  fact  has  remained — the  existence 
of  a  modern  European  and  North  American 
civilisation,  strong  in  itself  and  resting  on  itself 
alone. 

As  a  symbol  of  this  modern  ideal  of  life  the 
picture  of  Goethe  comes  to  mind.  His  person- 
ality impresses  us  as  that  of  a  life  animated  by 
the  spirit  within,  and  acting  in  accordance  with 
universal  self-evolved  laws  of  development. 
Absorbing  all  the  currents  and  ideas  of  his  time, 
working  with  enormous  industry  and  knowledge, 
wrestling  victoriously  with  all  the  spirits  of  evil, 
and  courageously  trampling  them  under  foot, 
Goethe  rose  triumphantly  to  a  harmonious  con- 
ception of  the  world  and  attitude  towards  life, 
and  sat  enthroned  on  the  heights,  like  Zeus  on 
Olympus,  generously  dispensing  his  gifts.  We 
have  here  before  our  sight  not  merely  an  ex- 
ternally magnificent  culture  such  as  the  Anglo- 
French  rationalism  presents  us  'svith,  but  a 
culture  of  the  deepest  spiritual  kind,  in  which 
all  the  nobler  spiritual  powers  of  human  life, 
religion  also,  find  a  place — a  rich  world,  com- 
plete in  itself,  firmly  planted  on  itself. 

And  close  to  Goethe  stands  Bismarck ;  again 
we  have  the  picture  of  a  life  in  accord- 
ance with  universal  laws — the  picture  of  heroic, 
energetic,  infinitely  capable   manhood.      Stand- 


The  Future  of  Christianity    275 

ing  firmly  on  the  earth  in  which  his  roots 
are  cast,  dealing  only  with  what  is,  Bismarck, 
in  a  hard  struggle  for  existence,  raised  his 
humiliated  nation  to  an  undreamt-of  position  of 
power  and  authority.  As  if  possessed  of  a 
magic  wand,  he  awakened  the  idealistic  German 
dreamer.  And  on  all  sides  there  re-echoed — in 
Germany  as  well — the  cry  of  the  duty  of  self- 
preservation  and  self-assertion,  of  the  struggle 
for  world-domination ;  on  all  sides  a  new  desire 
to  live,  new  aspirations,  new  organisations,  the 
struggle  for  existence,  class  conflicts. 

Is  it  possible  that  Christianity  will  be  able 
to  regain  in  this  world  of  modern  culture  the 
influence  which  it  so  notoriously  lost  during 
the  evolution  of  the  last  centuries  ?  Chris- 
tianity, in  its  essential  idea,  dominant  up  to 
the  present,  is  based  on  a  fundamental  con- 
ception utterly  opposed  to  the  ideal  of  life  '* 
which  has  just  been  described.  The  narrow 
Pauline  idea  of  redemption,  which  was  de- 
veloped by  St.  Augustine  and  strengthened 
anew  by  Luther,  still  dominates  it.  Do  not  let 
my  readers  misunderstand  me  on  this  point.  I 
know,  of  course,  that  the  great  men  in  the 
history  of  Christianity  in  the  vast  wealth  of 
their  personality  possessed  many  other  valuable 
conceptions  of  religions  as  well  as  this  funda- 
mental  one.     But  we  are   not   concerned  with 


276         What  is  Religion  ? 

that  here,  but  with  the  question  of  what  part  of 
their   religion   really   survived   in   history,    and 
how  far   it   influenced   the   world.     The  funda- 
mental part  which  has  survived  may  be  briefly 
stated :  The  race  of  man  from  Adam  onwards 
is  utterly  corrupt ;  incapable  of  doing  anything 
good  by  itself,  it  sinks  more  and  more  deeply 
into  the  slough  of  sin  and  corruption.     At  the 
most     it    may    attain    to    a    certain    external 
"middle-class"   righteousness   of  little  value,  a 
purely   external    culture.      And    into    this    lost 
world  a  Redeemer  descends  to  redeem  us ;  He 
is    quite    different    from    us,   He    is    from    the 
heaven   above,  we  from   the  earth  below ;   He 
is  filled  with  the   Divine  nature,  we   are   only 
men.      All    is    here    based    on    the    opposition 
between  sin   and  grace,   and   in   the   centre   of 
religion  is  placed  the  consciousness  of  sin,  and 
the  consolation  of  freedom  from  sin  and  guilt. 
Are  we  to  maintain  the  validity  of  this  con- 
ception in  our  modern  civilisation?    We  will  give 
the  highest  reverence  to  those  believers  of  old 
w^ho  upheld  it  with  such  absolute  devotion.    But 
we  must  consider  what  the  consequences  to-day 
are  of  such  a  belief.     If  we  accept  in  its  entirety 
this  conception,  if,  that  is,  we  take  from  modern 
life  its  very  essence,  and  force  it  to  self-renuncia- 
tion, we   shall   have  absolutely  to   cast  on   one 
side  such  complete  and  great  figures  as  those  of 


The  Future  of  Christianity    277 

Goethe  and  Bismarck.  Such  a  conception  of 
Christianity  was  comprehensible  when  Christi- 
anity found  itself  opposed  to  a  heathen  civilisa- 
tion against  which  it  struggled.  It  remained 
comprehensible  in  the  Middle  Ages  when  the 
Church  judged  in  this  manner  a  civilisation 
which  she  herself  had  created.  But  such  a 
conception  cannot  any  longer  be  accepted  in 
modern  life,  with  its  absolutely  independent 
attitude. 

Had  we  not  better,  therefore,  state  the  prob- 
lem in  another  form?  Let  us  ask  ourselves 
if  that  Pauline-Lutheran  conception  of  Christi- 
anity is  the  only  possible  one  ?  Cannot  the 
Gospel  be  revealed  in  other  forms  ?  Let  us  place 
before  our  mind  the  figure  of  Jesus.  In  Him  or 
His  preaching  there  is  little  of  that  harsh  con- 
tradiction, that  exaggerated  attitude.  He  never 
conceived  it  to  be  the  object  of  His  preaching  to 
call  forth  from  His  hearers,  at  any  price,  the 
confession  of  their  radically  corrupt  nature.  He 
aroused  moral  energy.  "This  do  and  thou  shalt 
live."  "  Ye  therefore  shall  be  perfect  as  your 
Heavenly  Father  is  perfect."  When  He  preached 
to  His  contemporaries  repentance,  He  meant 
chiefly  the  regeneration  of  the  will.  His  ideal 
was  immeasurably  lofty.  He  said  that  no  one 
was  good  except  God.  His  gospel  was  a  gospel 
of   redemption,  of   the   forgiveness  of  sins,  but 


278         What  is  Religion  ? 

these  represented  only  one  part  of  His  teaching  ; 
the   other   was   the   furtherance   of  moral  per- 
fection.    He    gladly   went   among   sinners    and 
publicans,  but  He  never  said  that  all  men  were 
publicans  and  sinners ;  He  told  the  parable  of 
the  prodigal  son,  but  He  did  not  mean  that  all 
men  were  prodigal  or  were  to  become  such.     He 
was   acquainted    with    those   whom   He    called 
blessed,  who  were  not  far  from  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.     The    forgiveness    of    sins   was   of    no 
value  without  the  regeneration  of  the  will ;  it 
could   only   console   those   who   tried,   however 
feebly,    to     fulfil     the    will    of    the     Heavenly 
Father. 

Thus  the  conviction  is  borne  in  upon  us  that 
we  are  acting  in  conformity  to  God's  will  when, 
in  proclaiming  the  Gospel,  we  do  not  assert  that 
man  is  hopelessly  corrupt  in  his  thoughts  and 
in  his  acts.     But  it  is  important  to  proclaim  to 
the  men  and  women  of  to-day  that  the  highest 
and  finest  ideal,  the  perfection  of  life,  is  offered 
to  them  in  the  Gospel,  and  that  all  their  striv- 
ings and  all  their  work  will  pass  aimlessly  away 
if  their  final   object  is  not  life   with  God,  and 
acts  in  accordance  with  His  will  as  the  Gospel 
requires.     And  to  reach  to  this  ideal  we  must  be 
roused  to  a  consciousness  of   our  imperfection, 
of    our    constant    backslidings ;     we    must    be 
kindled   to  a  longing  for   redemption ;  "  where 


The  Future  of  Christianity    279 

there   is  forgiveness  of   sins   there   is   life   and 
blessedness." 

And  just  as  the  Gospel  idea  of  redemption 
assumes  for  us  a  somewhat  different  form,  so 
our  thoughts  of  a  Redeemer  have  changed  in  a 
particular  direction.  We  no  longer  hold  the 
belief  that  Jesus  was  absolutely  different  from 
ourselves — He  heaven-born,  we  earth-born. 
Rather,  we  say  that  His  figure  is  the  noblest 
and  the  most  perfect  that  has  been  granted  to 
humanity  on  its  long  journey  from  the  lower 
stage  to  the  higher.  He  is  the  goal  of  our 
existence,  the  leader  of  our  life,  to  whom  no 
other  leader  is  comparable. 

And  hence  we  no  longer  speak  of  the 
"divinity"  of  Christ.  For  many  pious  Chris- 
tians, indeed,  this  formula  of  the  Godhead  of 
Christ  has  become  the  symbol  of  an  acknow- 
ledgment of  the  Christian  belief,  and  hesitation 
on  this  point  means  to  them  hesitation  con- 
cerning the  principles  of  belief.  The  German 
Emperor's  confession  of  belief  in  the  old  faith 
finds  in  these  days  an  echo  in  very  many 
hearts.  And  yet,  even  though  we  must  arouse 
pain  and  anger  among  those  who  hold  to  the 
old  belief,  we  cannot  but  oppose  this  view.  We 
will  state  the  grounds  of  our  opposition.  Adolph 
Harnack  rightly  objected  to  the  public  state- 
ment of  the  Emperor  on  the  ground  that  the 


2  8o        What  is  Religion  ? 

correct  dogmatic  expression  of  the  old  Christo- 
logical  idea  was  not  belief  in  the  divinity  of 
Christ,  but  in  His  Divine  humanity.  Further, 
he  objected  that  the  expression  "Divine 
humanity"  was  no  biblical  term,  just  as  the 
Bible  writers  scarcely  ever  called  Christ  God, 
or  spoke  of  the  divinity  of  Christ.  But  the 
evidence  of  Jesus  Himself  is  still  more  con- 
vincing. Throughout  His  life  He  placed  Himself 
with  men  and  not  with  God  ;  to  the  young  man 
who  called  Him  good  He  spoke  the  decisive 
word  which  makes  the  dogma  of  Christ's 
divinity  almost  impossible :  "  None  is  good  save 
one,  even  God."  He  desired  to  be  so  little 
different  from  us  men  that  He  rejected  the 
claim  of  absolute  goodness.  In  all  His  parables, 
in  the  most  genuine  one  that  has  been  pre- 
served for  us.  He  places  the  souls  of  men  directly 
in  the  presence  of  the  Heavenly  Father.  We 
are  taking  from  Jesus  no  honour  to  which  He 
Himself  would  have  laid  claim  when  we  cannot 
acknowledge  the  divinity  of  Christ.  Our  faith 
does  not  depend  on  a  belief  in  the  supernatural, 
non-human  nature  of  the  God  of  redemption, 
but  on  the  earthly  life  of  our  Lord,  on  His  own 
faith,  which  He  sealed  with  His  death,  on  His 
manner  of  living,  on  the  love  which  He  bore  to 
sinners.  We  honour  in  this  earthly  being  the 
Captain  who  guides  every  one  to  God,  the  Guide 


The  Future  of  Christianity    281 

for  the  simple  as  well  as  for  the  highly-cultured  ; 
indeed,  we  see  in  the  belief  in  His  personality 
the  presence  of  God,  and  so  we  gladly  confess 
that  God  was  in  Christ. 

Thus  we  escape  all  further  speculation  con- 
cerning the  Divine  nature  in  Christ,  the  relation 
between  God  the  Father  and  God  the  Son,  the 
relation  of  the  two  natures,  the  unity  of  the 
three  Persons.  In  the  centre  of  our  faith  there 
is  no  longer  an  absolutely  contradictory  state- 
ment. We  say  with  confidence  that  we  may  ^ 
cheerfully  leave  all  these  matters  alone  if  we 
simply  want  to  get  at  the  essence  and  true 
nature  of  Christianity. 

The  idea  of  redemption  has  been  concentrated 
in  the  course  of  the  history  of  Christianity  in 
the  belief  in  the  special  significance  of  Christ's 
sacrificial  death.  Christ's  death  was  the  great 
sacrifice  offered  for  our  sins  ;  it  obtained  a 
vicarious  value  and  meaning.  Important  con- 
siderations affect  us  in  this  matter.  We  do  not 
here  mainly  rely  on  theoretical  objections,  but 
on  the  weight  of  our  moral  consciousness,  which 
now  acts  independently.  For  this  is  the  very 
hall-mark  of  our  modern  life  ;  our  moral  feel- 
ing has  become  so  independent  that  it  will  not 
admit  any  strange  moral  idea  on  the  authority 
of  religion.  Our  moral  sense,  based  on  Kant's 
Ethics,   speaks   as    follows   with  all  clearness : 


282        What  is  Religion  ? 

"The  sin  which  you  have  committed  no  one 
can  atone  for  instead  of  you,  neither  man  nor 
God.  It  cannot  be  transferred,  like  a  concrete 
object.  It  is  a  fact  that  guilt  can  never  be 
atoned  for  by  punishment  borne  by  you  or 
another,  and  still  less  can  the  consciousness  of 
guilt  be  removed  by  another.  Sin  and  guilt  can 
only  be  removed  by  the  voluntary  moral  and 
personal  act  of  our  God,  who  forgives  sin  and 
remits  guilt."  Our  religious  perception  tells  us 
that  we  take  an  unworthy  view  of  God  when 
we  say  He  cannot  forgive  of  His  own  free  will. 
And  once  again  our  own  experience  bids  us 
appeal  to  Jesus  Himself.  In  His  preaching  we 
find  no  trace  of  the  dogma  of  atonement, 
whilst  His  saying  with  regard  to  the  ransom 
for  the  many,  as  well  as  the  institution  of  the 
Last  Supper,  are  very  far  removed  from  the 
dogmatic  view  of  His  death,  and  imply  no  more 
than  the  idea  of  martyrdom  (see  p.  236).  Jesus 
speaks  in  His  preaching  of  the  Divine  fatherly 
love  which  pardons,  without  laying  down  any 
conditions  or  any  reference  to  His  death.  The 
father  in  the  parable  forgives  the  prodigal  son 
unconditionally  ;  there  is  no  question  of  a  "  but " 
or  an  "  if."  An  attempt  has  been  made  to  read 
into  this  parable  the  doctrine  of  vicarious  suffer- 
ing, but  this  cannot  be  done  without  altering 
the  parable  entirely. 


The  Future  of  Christianity    283 

So  far,  we  have  endeavoured  to  make  it  clear 
that  the  central  idea  of  the  Christian  religion,  the 
idea  of  redemption,  must  assume,  owing  to  the 
great  change  in  the  structure  of  human  society, 
a  slightly  different  form.     In  regard  to  another 
matter,  a  similar  change  in  what  was  hitherto 
regarded     as    a     fundamental     belief     is     also 
required.      Corresponding    to    modern     culture 
there  is   a  special   mode   of  thinking   which  is 
essentially  peculiar  to  it.    The  main  characteristic 
of   this   modern   mode   of   thinking  rests    upon 
the  determination  to  try  to  explain  everything 
that  takes  place  in  the  world  by  natural  causes  ; 
or — to  express  it  in  another  form — it  rests  upon 
the  determined   assertion  of  universal  laws  to 
which  all  phenomena,  natural  and  spiritual,  are 
subject. 

As  a  foundation  for  modern  thought  there 
stands  on  the  one  hand  the  law  of  Nature. 
Our  external  civilisation,  with  its  natural 
science  and  its  technical  science,  rests  on 
the  recognition  and  acceptance  of  an  inviol- 
able order  of  Nature  in  accordance  with 
the  laws  of  Nature.  And  science,  penetrating 
deep  into  the  spiritual  life  of  mankind — our 
thoughts  turn  here  to  psycho-physiology,  to 
the  science  of  political  economy  and  statistics,  to 
the  emphasis  laid  on  "environment,"  to  the 
coherence  in  natural  science  itself   due   to   the 


284        What    is  Religion? 

action  of  natural  law — recognises  and  asserts 
an  order  in  Nature,  calculable,  regulated,  and  in 
accordance  with  la^v.  It  asserts  even  more  than 
that,  for  the  belief  in  the  law  of  Nature  has 
become  a  fundamental  belief  of  our  life.  We 
may,  in  theory,  persuade  ourselves  that  the 
order  of  Nature  is  only  apparent,  and  that  every 
moment  a  breach  of  that  law  of  Nature  is 
possible,  but  we  do  not  act  in  accordance  with 
that  belief.  We  arrange  our  life  on  the  basis  of 
that  law.  We  make  our  calculations  genera- 
tions beforehand  ;  generations  of  astronomers 
work  together  at  an  astronomical  problem.  We 
make  laws  which  can  only  be  developed  to  their 
full  significance  by  our  successors.  We  live 
with  the  full  conviction  that  we  stand  on  the 
basis  of  secure,  reliable  reality. 

There  is  still  one  thing  that  no  longer  fits  in 
with  this  new  world  of  thought — a  miracle,  in 
the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  in  the  sense  of  the 
intervention  of  God  in  this  natural  order  of 
things  by  setting  aside  its  laws.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  miraculous  appears  deeply  inter- 
woven with  the  Christian  religion.  In  all  ages 
of  Christianity  belief  in  miracles  has  been  strong 
— in  the  age  of  the  New  Testament,  of  the  early 
Church,  the  Middle  Ages,  the  age  of  Luther. 
The  longing  for  the  miraculous  is  strikingly 
shown  in  Bjornson's  book  "  Concerning  Energy." 


The  Future  of  Christianity    285 

And  yet  we  moderns  can  no  longer  hold  fast 
to  this  belief  in  miracles.  Here  again  it  is  not 
merely  that  it  contradicts  our  whole  mode  of 
thought,  but  it  is  in  direct  contradiction  to  our 
changed  belief  in  God.  We  have  learnt  to 
believe  in  a  God  who  is  a  God  of  order,  and 
not  of  chaos,  in  a  God  who  has  woven  the  weft 
of  this  world  so  skilfully  and  securely  that  it 
never  needs  correction,  in  a  God  -who  in  the 
great  orderly  march  onwards  through  the 
apparently  pitiless  struggle  for  existence  is 
leading  the  generations  of  living  beings  to  a 
higher  stage.  A  God  who  must  perpetually  help 
on  His  works  by  miracles,  who  has  to  pick  up 
again  the  stitches  in  his  web  which  have  been 
dropped,  seems  to  us  insignificant  and  useless. 

And  when  we  once  more  investigate  the 
history  of  our  belief  from  this  point  of  view  we 
see  things  differently  from  what  they  appeared 
at  the  first  glance.  We  perceive  that  in  main- 
taining this  attitude  towards  the  miraculous 
we  are  only  following  the  development  which 
is  in  accordance  with  history.  For  the  Evan- 
gelical Church  has  already  abandoned  a  large 
part  of  its  belief  in  miracles.  Only  the  early 
Church  and  the  Middle  Ages  had  a  strong 
belief  in  miracles,  and  in  those  days  man  lived 
in  an  atmosphere  of  the  miraculous  which 
was   an  accompaniment  of   the  daily  life.      In 


/ 


2  86         What  is  Religion  ? 

the  Evangelical  Churches — especially  in  their 
struggles  with  the  Catholic  worship  of 
saints — the  conviction  gained  ground  that,  on 
the  whole,  miracles  no  longer  happen,  and 
the  great  miracles  belonged  to  the  past. 
Belief  in  the  miracles  of  the  Gospel  and  of 
the  Old  Testament  was  alone  demanded.  But 
this  belief  in  miracles  is  based  on  the  idea 
that  the  miracles  which  have  come  down  to 
us  are  not  really  miracles  at  all,  and  that  no 
personal  act  of  belief  can  be  based  on  them. 
Miracles  are  no  longer  the  bulwark  of  faith : 
it  is  faith  that  must  support  miracles.  Thus 
in  our  denial  of  the  miraculous  we  are  only 
completing  what  the  Evangelical  Church  of 
the  past  had  done  in  part.  And  here  we  may 
go  a  step  farther  back,  to  the  life  of  Christ. 
It  is  quite  true  that  Jesus  and  His  disciples 
thought  differently  from  ourselves  on  the 
subject  of  miracles.  Their  knowledge  did  not 
allow  them  to  see  clearly  the  boundaries  of 
the  possible.  Yet,  in  spite  of  this,  Jesus  never 
saw  in  miracles  the  most  important  part  of 
faith.  He  performed  miracles,  but  others  did 
that  likewise.  When  the  multitude  asked  for 
a  sure  sign  from  Him,  so  that  they  might  be 
able  to  believe  in  Him,  He  absolutely  rejected 
the  demand :  "  If  they  hear  not  Moses  and 
the  prophets,  neither  will  they  be  persuaded  if 


The   Future   of  Christianity    287 

one  arise  from  the  dead."  The  peculiar  and 
extraordinary  miracles  of  Jesus  may  be  easily 
separated  from  His  life.  His  daily  acts  of 
healing  and  help  do  not  belong  here ;  for  they 
are  not  miracles  in  the  strict  sense  of  the 
word,  and  even  if  we  reason  them  away 
the  perfect  and  harmonious  portrait  of  Jesus 
remains. 

Thus,  led  by  the  hand  of  Jesus  and  His  Spirit, 
we  venture,  even  with  regard  to  the  history  of 
the  Gospel,  to  free  Christianity  from  a  belief 
in  miracles  in  the  restricted  sense — that  is  to 
say,  so  far  as  this  belief  requires  us  to  deny 
belief  in  the  inviolable  course  of  Nature,  acting 
in  accordance  with  law.  The  miraculous  in 
the  deeper  sense  of  the  word,  the  miracle  of 
the  individual  spiritual  life,  still  exists  for  ue. 
What  disappears  is  only  the  belief  in  miracles 
which  affect  the  order  of  Nature. 

The  modern  conception  of  the  world 
postulates,  however,  not  merely  the  universal 
validity  of  the  laws  of  Nature,  but  also  certain 
inviolable  principles  and  axioms  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  intellectual  life.  As  characteristic 
of  modern  times,  and  especially  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  the  flourishing  science  of  history 
must  take  its  place  by  the  side  of  natural 
science.  By  the  side  of  the  law  of  Nature  stands 
the    idea    of    historical    evolution.      With    the 


2  88        What  is   Religion  ? 

help  of  this  idea  of  evolution,  historical  science 
puts  before  itself  the  object  of  explaining  all 
intellectual  events  by  reference  to  a  universal 
law.  And  if  she  thereby  lays  no  claim  to 
solving  the  fundamental  riddle  of  the  isolated 
personalities  and  individualities  which  make 
history,  yet  she  is  very  far  from  accepting  the 
intervention  of  the  supernatural  in  the  other- 
wise natural  course  of  events,  or  from  believing 
that  there  is  any  opposition  between  the  natural 
course  of  events  and  that  which  is  directed  by 
Divine  revelation. 

Now,  the  modern  science  of  history  has 
subjected  the  history  of  religion,  like  all  other 
things  which  affect  human  life,  to  its  investi- 
gations. After  a  scientific  method  had  been 
formulated,  attention  was  directed  to  the 
history  of  the  Old  and  the  New  Testaments. 
With  unceasing  energy  historical  investigations 
were  made  into  the  minutest  details.  We  may 
strive  against  this  method  or  act  in  accordance 
with  it;  in  any  case  the  process  goes  on.  For 
even  those  who  uphold  the  older  view  of  history 
must  work  with  the  tools  of  history.  The 
halo  of  the  supernatural  which  had  clung 
\  around  "  sacred  history "  was  destroyed,  and 
everywhere  a  course  of  events  was  discerned, 
which  was,  on  the  whole,  explicable,  in  so  far 
as   such   events,  which  ever  present  the  riddle 


The   Future  of  Christianity     289 

of  personality  and  individuality,  can  be 
explained.  Everywhere  we  see  development  on 
an  ascending  scale,  and  everywhere  the  partial 
dependence  of  the  spiritual  on  the  natural ;  we 
see  how  religion  shapes  itself  in  accordance  with 
the  universal  evolution  of  civilisation,  and 
how  close  is  the  connection  of  religions  with  the 
surrounding  world.  All  is  in  a  state  of  fusion, 
all  is  interdependent.  When  all  history  has 
thus  been  brought  to  a  level  it  is  impossible  (^ 
to  believe  in  a  Divine  revelation,  in  the  old 
acceptance  of  the  term,  which  restricted  reve- 
lation to  one  special  province. 

And  yet  the  Christian  religion  does  rest  on 
the  thought  of  revelation.  In  the  light  of 
this  all  seems  capable  of  explanation.  Luther 
destroyed  ecclesiastical  authority,  but  he  fell 
back  upon  the  Bible,  and  his  Church  is  based 
upon  the  dogma  of  verbal  inspiration.  The.  0 
dogma  has  been  abandoned,  but  people  still 
considered  they  had  a  right  to  believe  in  the 
Bible  as  containing  a  special  Divine  revelation.* 
We  are  scarcely  conscious  of  how  far  the  old 
barriers  have  been  swept  away ;  walls  and 
barriers  are  erected  which  last  but  a  short  time. 
History  would  appear  to  destroy  the  idea  of 
inspiration — that  is  to  say,  of  any  special  reve- 
lation— in  the  Old  and  New  Testament.  The 
theological   attempt,   made    known    to    a    large 

20 


290        What  is  Religion  ? 

circle  of  persons  through  the  German  Emperor's 
open  letter,  to  enforce  the  acceptance  of  a 
double  revelation  is,  in  the  form  proposed,  not 
tenable  ;   history  does  not  acknowledge  it. 

And  what   if   history   were   right?      Suppose 
this   view   were   the  true   one?      In    that    case 
only  a  bold  step  forward  will  save  us.      If  the 
science  of    history  demands    that    the    seals   be 
broken     and    the    special    revelation     be     sur- 
rendered,   then     we     must     seriously    consider 
the  idea  of  a  universal  revelation.     On  the  one 
hand  we  may  say  with  confidence  that  history 
nowhere    shows   us  one    place   where   a  special 
Divine  revelation  took  place,  where  a  Divine  act 
occurred  side   by  side  with  the  human  act,  yet 
to  be  separated  from  it.     Everything  in  history 
stands   forth   as    human.     On   the   other   hand, 
we   may   say:    All   is   of   Divine   working  ;  the 
whole    history    of    mankind,    with   its   gradual 
creation  and  attainment  of  a  standard  of  moral 
values   based   on  no  external   authority,  is  the 
work  of  God,  who  ever  draws  mankind  toward 
Him.      And    the    central    idea     of    this    great 
spiritual   course   of   events  is   the   development 
of    the    religious    life,    and    the    central    point 
of    the    history    of    the    Old    and    New   Testa- 
ments,  the    object    and    crown    of    the    whole 
development,   is   the  Gospel  and   the  person  of 
Jesus.     This    is    a  liberal  and  pious   conception 


The   Future  of  Christianity    291 

of  history  which  is  justified  by  fact  and  is 
quite  capable  of  holding  its  own  against  the 
old  conception  (apart  from  the  question  of  a 
special  "  sacred  history "  the  result  of  the 
supernatural  and  almighty  power  of  God). 

If  we  continue  this  line  of  thought  farther, 
we  are  confronted  by  a  new  question  :  Does 
not  this  historical  investigation  which  shakes 
the  foundation  of  all  things  force  us  to 
acknowledge  that  the  Christian  religion  is 
only  a  passing  form  of  religion,  capable  of 
being  surpassed,  which  must  necessarily  lead 
to  a  higher  religion  ?  I  do  not  think  so. 
Naturally  history  can  pronounce  here  no 
absolute  judgment ;  it  cannot  assert  or  prove 
that  in  Christianity  the  height  of  religious 
development  has  been  reached.  History  would 
be  going  beyond  its  proper  limits  if  it  did ; 
this.  But  at  the  same  time  history  cannot 
assert  the  impossibility  of  such  a  supposition, 
or  it  would  be  also  going  beyond  its  capacity. 
History  shows  us,  indeed,  in  all  branches  of 
human  life  a  gradual  rise  in  the  standard  of 
values.  But  it  does  not  prove  to  us  that  this 
process  is  interminable  ;  rather,  it  tends  to 
show  that  in  many  departments  the  heights 
already  reached  cannot  be  overstepped.  Thus 
faith  possesses  an  open  field,  and  no  scientific 
certainty  is  here  required.     But   if  we  do  wish 


I 


I 


292        what  is  Religion  ? 

to  rise  to  the  belief  that  religion  in  the  shape 
of  the  simple,  plain  Gospel  cannot  be  surpassed, 
it  is  above  all  necessary  for  us  to  be  firmly 
convinced  that  for  us  and  our  age  the  Gospel 
the  only  and  the  all-sufficing  form  of  religion 
that  we  require.  And  now  we  will  return  to 
our  original  question. 

We  have  seen  how  a  great  development 
of  the  Christian  religion  seems  to  be  required 
on  all  sides.  The  conception  of  redemption, 
the  dogma  of  the  divinity  of  Christ,  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  the  idea  of  vicarious 
sacrifice,  the  belief  in  the  miraculous,  in  the 
old  view  of  revelation — we  see  how  all  these 
I  are  swept  away  in  the  stream  of  development. 
What  still  remains?  Those  who  are  full  of 
dread  and  anxiety  might  think  only  a  heap 
of  ruins.  But  to  our  joyful  astonishment  we 
have  seen  when  we  criticised  several  things 
that  what  remained  was  the  simple  Gospel  of 
Jesus.  Even  when  we  differ  here  and  there 
from  Luther  and  from  Paul,  we  cling  all  the 
more  firmly  to  the  person  and  the  Gospel  of 
Jesus. 

It  is  true  we  cannot  simply  take  the  Gospel 
j  of  Jesus  just  as  it  stands.  The  Gospel  has  in 
j  it  things  of  eternal  value,  and  likewise  things 
of  merely  transitory  value.  To  the  latter  class 
belongs  much  of  the  eschatology  of  the  Gospel 


The   Future  of  Christianity    293 

— the  expectation  of  the  iramediate  end  of  the 
Tvorld,  and,  indeed,  the  whole  conception  of 
the  world  on  which  these  ideas  rest — the  idea 
of  an  earth  placed  in  the  middle  of  the 
world,  of  a  vaulted  heaven  above  it,  of  a 
God  who,  dwelling  amid  the  clouds,  sur- 
rounded by  His  angels,  comes  to  judge, 
the  belief  in  angels  who  ascend  and  descend 
from  heaven  to  earth,  the  belief  in  devils  and 
demons,  in  miracles  and  in  inspiration,  and 
in  many  other  things.  But  these  are  only 
the  outward  husks  through  which  the  pure, 
inward,  true  light  of  the  Gospel — only  hidden 
for  the  moment — shines  forth  in  glory  every- 
where. 

But  even  the  true  inward  contents  of  the 
Gospel  must  not  be  slavishly  copied  by  us. 
They  must  be  translated,  not  merely  into  our 
speech,  but  into  our  common  spiritual  experi- 
ences. And  in  doing  this  we  do  not  want 
arbitrarily  to  destroy  the  threads  of  historical 
development  and  to  go  back  with  exaggerated 
purism  to  the  beginnings  of  the  Gospel.  No, 
wherever  historical  evolution  lends  anything 
of  value  to  the  Gospel — I  am  thinking  here 
of  the  attitude  of  the  Reformation  towards 
secular  work  and  many  other  things — we 
must  accept  it  and  carry  it  farther.  Pure, 
true    religion    has    never    existed    without    an 


2  94        What  is   Religion  ? 

external    covering    woven     of     the     fabric     of 
the   age. 

I  We  hold  fast  with  all  our  power  to  the 
{ faith  of  the  Gospel  in  a  personal,  heavenly 
'.Father — a  faith  which  conquers  the  world  and 
Irises  high  above  this  world,  yet  takes  us  into 
I  the  world  and  the  world's  work.  We  carry 
^this  idea  of  faith  into  our  modern  knowledge, 
into  our  representation  of  God.  Truly  God 
stands  to  us  no  longer  as  the  kindly  Father, 
above  the  starry  canopy,  whose  garment,  the 
firmament,  is  interwoven  with  the  glory  of 
the  stars,  who  sends  His  angels  to  guard  the 
pious,  who  with  His  miraculous  powers,  which 
are  visible  to  the  bodily  eye,  influences  this 
our  "world,  whose  laws  He  casts  on  one  side. 
God  is  to  us  the  Eternal,  the  All-Powerful  One, 
who  is  potent  in  the  vast  starry  world  and 
in  the  eternities  of  time  and  space,  before 
which  thought  grows  dizzy — potent  alike  in 
the  eternally  insignificant  things  and  in  the 
eternally  great  things.  He  is  the  God  whose 
garment  is  the  iron  law  of  Nature,  which  hides 
Him  from  human  eyes  in  a  thick  husk  which 
cannot  be  torn  off ;  who,  in  accordance  with 
the  terrible  law  of  the  struggle  for  existence, 
leads  His  creatures  upwards  into  a  world  of 
moral,  individual  freedom ;  who  surrounds  us 
with    His    existence    as    with     a    dizzy    abyss. 


The  Future  of  Christianity    295 

And  clinging  to  the  hand  of  Jesus  we  venture 
to  plunge  into  the  abyss.  We  lift  our  hands 
in  prayer  and  say,  "  Our  Father  in  Heaven." 
It  is  indeed  no  small  task  which  we  have  to 
perform.  Faith  ever  means  struggle,  work, 
new  efforts,  further  progress. 

And  we  take  our  stand  by  Jesus  on  the 
ground  of  the  absolutely  simple  conviction 
that  God  is  to  be  found  in  the  good,  and  that 
faith  in  the  Heavenly  Father  includes  moral 
deeds  and  moral  ^vork  in  the  human  com- 
munity.  We  deduce  the  categorical  imperative 
laid  upon  a  life  of  good  deeds  from  the  Gospel, 
from  the  belief  in  a  fatherly  God  who  desires 
that  His  sons  shall  be  perfect  even  as  He  is 
perfect,  under  the  shadow  of  whose  eye  we 
feel  we  live,  before  whose  judgment  we  shall 
have  to  give  an  account  of  our  life. 

But  here  again  we  must  not  simply  copy; 
we  cannot  bring  to  our  modern  life  the  ascetic 
mode  of  dealing  with  moral  affairs  which  the 
earliest  Christians  adopted.  We  plunge  with 
courage  into  the  stream  of  the  evolution  of  the 
Gospel,  into  the  secular  conception  of  ethics  as 
established  by  the  Reformation.  We  know 
that  to  do  well,  in  God's  sense  of  the  term, 
does  not  require  external  works,  but  the  simple 
fulfilment  of  our  earthly  duties.  And  into  a 
world  which  has  grown  great  and  wide,  which 


296        What  is  Religion  ? 

does  not  believe  that  it  stands  at  the  end,  but 
at  the  beginning  of  a  new  period ;  into  a  world 
full  of  obstinate  questions  and  problems ;  into 
an  age  of  modern  technical  science,  of  world 
intercourse  and  world  industry,  an  age  of  the 
social  question,  of  the  rivalry  of  the  nations 
and  of  class  war,  we  bring  the  teaching  set 
forth  by  the  Gospel — the  life  spent  for  the 
good  of  others,  the  nobility  of  love  that  serves, 
the  noble,  holy  comprehension  of  all  human 
life,  the  absolute,  God-given  moral  tranquillity 
in  the  face  of  all  hostility. 

We  feel  deeply  the  imperfection  of  all  our 
deeds,  the  eternal  contradiction  between  what 
we  do  and  what  we  ought  to  do ;  we  feel  how 
we  ever  fall  below  what  God  demands  of  us. 
And  the  more  absolutely  we  are  conscious  of 
these  demands  and  the  more  earnestly  we 
regard  them,  the  more  strongly  that  feeling 
of  imperfection  grows  within  us.  It  is  just 
the  modern  man  who  has  for  the  first  time 
learnt  to  penetrate  the  greatness  and  power 
of  his  God  who  will  be  particularly  acces- 
sible to  that  part  of  the  Gospel  which  deals 
with  redemption.  He  will  from  the  very  first 
be  disposed  to  feel  that,  in  the  presence  of 
God,  he  is  of  absolute  insignificance  and  worth- 
lessness,  and  he  Tvill,  above  all,  feel  his  moral 
worthlessness.     We  cling  to  Jesus's  Gospel  of  a 


The   Future  of  Christianity    297 

God  who  forgives  sins.  We  know  that  in  the 
Kfe  of  each  one  of  us  there  are  hours  when 
nothing  keeps  us  upright  except  the  belief  in 
a  forgiving  Father,  such  as  Jesus  revealed  to 
us  in  the  parable  of  the  prodigal  son.  But 
we  also  believe  we  are  in  accordance  with  the 
will  of  Jesus  when  no  compulsion  conies  into 
the  question  of  belief.  We  will  not  make  the 
thought  of  sin  and  guilt  a  principle  of  our  life 
which  destroys  everything  else ;  we  recognise, 
indeed,  times  in  our  life  when  through  the 
goodness  of  God  we  have  made  progress  and 
have  gladly  done  His  will,  and  so  we  feel 
joyful  and  free  and  thankful.  But  yet  we 
shall  always  accept  the  saying  of  Jesus :  "  When 
you  have  done  all,  say,  We  are  yet  unworthy 
servants." 

And  thus  we  are  still  possessed  of  a  bold  and 
joyous  hope.  This  eternal  hope  is  not  the  basis 
of  our  Christianity,  but  its  highest  expression 
and  object.  We  hope  for  a  higher  life  nearer 
to  God,  for  a  solution  to  all  our  anxious 
questions  and  doubts,  to  our  manifold  fears 
and  anxieties,  for  freedom  from  the  fetters  of 
the  commonplace  and  of  sin.  This  hope  must 
be  free  from  all  egoism.  We  are  not  only 
concerned  about  our  own  poor  life ;  we  feel 
that  our  life  is  bound  to  a  great  society,  a 
kingdom  of   spirits,  whose  ruler  is  Christ;   we 


298         What  is   Religion  ? 

feel  we  are  linked  to  the  great  souls  of  the 
past  who  ^vork  with  us,  and  that  we  are  in 
close  connection  with  all  who  work  with  us  in 
the  present.  We  cannot  believe  that  all  is 
merely  a  passing  show,  foam  which  the  waves 
of  the  ocean  will  disperse.  We  have  and  we 
hold  a  living  personal  hope : 


"  But  heard  are  the  voices, 
Heard  are  the  sages, 
The  "Worlds  and  the  Ages. 
Choose  well,  your  choice  is 
Brief  and  yet  endless; 
Here  eyes  do  regard  you, 
In  Eternity's  stillness. 
Here  is  all  fulness  ! 
Ye  brave,  to  reward  you ; 
Work  and  despair  not." 


And  all  this :  God  the  Father,  life  in  accord- 
ance with  His  will  spent  in  joyful  work  for 
the  service  of  the  world,  forgiveness  of  sins 
and  eternal  hope — all  this  hangs  together  and 
is  crystallised  in  perfect  clearness  in  the  person 
of  our  Lord  Jesus.  And  we  speak  thus  to  Him  : 
"  Thou  art  our  Leader  !  There  have  been  many 
leaders  of  men  in  different  departments  of  life. 
Be  Thou  our  Leader,  with  whom  no  other  is 
comparable,  the  Leader  to  the  highest,  the 
Guide  of  our  souls  to  God,  the  Way,  the  Truth 
and  the  Life." 


The   Future   of  Christianity    299 

We  modern  men,  with  our  leanings  towards 
individualism  and  our  great  independence  of 
mind,  need  to  take  to  heart  a  warning  against 
standing  alone.  We  must  place  both  our  feet 
firmly  in  the  community  which  owes  its  origin 
to  Jesus.  It  is  a  mistake  to  think  that  we  can 
have  and  preserve  all  that  we  have  been  speak- 
ing about  in  isolation.  For  a  time  the  individual 
may  perhaps  preserve  it,  but  later  the  soul  slips 
away  from  merely  inherited  ideas.  It  is  only 
in  the  community — history  speaks  clearly  on 
this  point — that  man  develops  the  wings  and 
the  capacity  to  soar  into  an  invisible  world ; 
only  in  the  community  is  strength  developed 
to  carry  the  moral  demands  of  the  Gospel  into 
an  unfriendly  v^orld.  But  we  only  find  this 
community  by  joining  an  ecclesiastical  organi- 
sation based  on  an  historical  foundation.  Un- 
dismayed by  the  rubbish  of  old  tradition  which 
is  difficult  to  cast  aside,  by  the  many  strange, 
old-fashioned  forms,  by  the  barriers  and  hedges 
and  walls  of  ecclesiastical  tradition,  we  preserve 
our  inviolable  right  to  be  in  this  community, 
whilst  we  gladly  and  zealously  accept  the  duties 
attaching  to  this  right.  The  question  of  the 
future  of  Christianity  is  at  the  same  time  a 
question  addressed  to  the  hearts  and  the 
consciences  of  us  modern  educated  men.  May 
we  weigh  it  and  consider  it  well ! 


INDEX 


A 

Abydos,  12 

Acropolis,  103 

iEschylus,  103,  104 

Agag,  107 

Agoraios,  103 

Ahab,  124 

Ahura,  74,  76,  119,  159,  160 

Alexander  the  Great,  138 

Amaziah,  130 

American  Indians,  30,  31 

Ammon,  72 

Amos,  114,  115,  117,  130 

Ancestral  worship,  47,  63 

Animism,  35 

Anu,  91 

Apocrypha,  138 

Apollo,  73,  74,  103,  104,  105 

Areopagus,  103 

Arsacidae,  139 

Assyria,  127,  138 

Astarte,  61,  62,  67 

Athene,  73,  74,  103 

Athens,  73 

Augustine,  257,  258 

Augustus,  214 

Avesta,  138,  162 

B 

Baal,  61,  62,  77,  115 
Babylonian  Psalms,  96,  97 


Babylonian  religion,  69-72,  90- 

101 
Bel,  72,  91 
Bismarck,  274,  275 
Blood-relation   and  blood-feud, 

64,65 
Brahminism,  178-184 
Bronze  Age,  31 
Buddha  and  Buddhism,  116, 117, 

175-178,  184-200 
Bushmen,  30 


C 

Caesar,  214 

Chalcedon  Council,  251 
Christ.     See  Jesus. 
Christianity,  future  of,  260-299 
,,  nature  of,  217-259 

Confucius,  114 
Creed,  the,  159 


D 

Daeven,  119 

Dances,  religious,  4 

Danites,  81 

Dead,  worship  of,  47-55 

Delian  Confederation,  73 

Demons,  75 

Demeter,  62 


301 


302  What  is   Religion  ? 


Dervishes,  44 
Dionysius,  19 


E 


Ea,  72,  91 

Eastern  Church,  253,  254 
Elijah,  113,  115 
Eridu,  71 

F 

Fairy  tales,  33 

Fakirs,  44 

Feasts,  54 

Fetichism,  41-44 

Fire,  use  and  worship  of,  3 

,,  -burial,  87 
Future  Hfe,  belief  in,  88-90 

G 

Gaia,  54 

Gathas,  116,  138 

Gideon,  81 

Gods  as  personalities,  75 

Goethe,  274 

Gospel,  the,  217-238,  292-295 

Greek  culture,  212,  213 

Greek  religion,  81,  101,  200-207 

H 

Hammurabi,  67,  98 
Harnack,  279 
Hecate,  19,  102 
Hereros,  34 
Herkaios,  102 
Hermes,  102 
Hermopolis,  72 
Hestia,  102 


HiUel,  164 

History,  science  of,  287-291 

Hosea,  114 


Image  worship,  78-82 
Iranian  religion,  145-147 
Isaiah,  78,  115,  151 
Isis-Osiris,  214 
Islamism,  139,  147-149 
Israel,  107,  123-127,  157 


Jacob's  dream,  78 

Jahwe,  60,  126,  127 

Jamasp,  113 

Jeremiah,  78,  114,  115 

Jesus,  religion  of,  218,  219,  220- 

238,  277-281 
Jezebel,  124 

Judaism,  137-145,  153-155 
Judgment,  idea  of,  167-172 

K 

Kaaba,  148 

Kopernican  theory,  21 
Koran,  162 


Luther,  26,  262-264 

M 
Magic,  belief  m,  44,  45 
Malay  people,  30,  31 
Marduk,  72,  73,  74,  76,  92,  93 
Medicine  men,  44 
Melkarth,  77 


Index 


303 


Memphis,  72 
Menelaus,  90 
Mentu,  72 
Micah,  114 
Milkem,  77 
Miracles,  284-287 
Mithras,  146,  147 
Mohanimed,  140 
Mongolians,  30,  31 
Moloch,  77 

Monasticism,  253,  258 
Monotheism,  122,  141 
Music,  influence  of,  46 
Mut,  72 
Myths,  85,  86 

N 

Naaman,  125 

Nature,  Law  of,  283,  284,  287, 

288 
Nebo,  72 

Negro  race,  30,  38,  89 
Nergol,  92 
Newton,  272 
Nippur,  72 
Nirvana,  208 

O 

On  Heliopolis,  72 
Orestes,  105 
Orphic  societies,  110 
Osiris,  72,  74 


Pan,  19 

Paul,  78,  219,  223,  240-248,  250- 

252 
Persephone,  62 


Persian  religion,   145-147,   156, 

157 
Pessimism,  181,  182 
Plato  and  Platonism,  116,  121, 

175,  203-207 
Pluto,  62 

Polytheism,  71,  99-101,  126 
Priesthood,  origin  of,  83-85 
Prophets,  128-135 
Prostitution  in  worship,  67 
Ptah,  73 
Punic  tribes,  67 

R 
Ra,  72 

Ramman,  92 

Red  Indians,  53  ' 

Reformation,  260-265 

Re-incarnation,  180,  181 

Retribution,  Behef  in,  110,  111 

Roman  Law,  255 

Rome,  position  of,  256,  257 

S 

Sagas,  33 

Schamasch,  72,  77 

Schopenhauer,  269 

Secret  societies,  215 

Serapis,  214 

Sin,  the  god,  72,  77 

Sippar,  72 

Sisyphus,  90 

Socrates,  115,  116 

Spirits,  behef  in,  36,  86-88 

Stone  Age,  3,  4,  31 


T 


Tammuz,  92 


304  What  is   Religion  ? 


Tantalus,  90 
Temple,  151-153 
Temple  worship,  82 
Teocalli,  82 
Tertullian,  67 
Thebes,  72 
Thoth,  72 
Totemism,  64 
Tribal  life,  31-55 

,,     religion,  55-68 
Tripitaku,  162 


U 


Ur,  72 

Uranos,  77 


Varuna,  74,  76 
Vedanta  philosophy,  182 


Vedas,  123,  135,  182 
Vendidad,  138 
Vistarp,  113 

W 

Western  Church,  254-259 


X 


Xenios,  102 


Yasht,  145 


Z 

Zarathustra,  113-117 
Zeus,  74,  103 


UNWIN  BROTHEBS,  LIMITED,  THE  GEESHAM  PRESS,  WOKING  AND  LONDON. 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  01130  7685 


Date  Due 

- 

1 

.\^AR2  9' 

''^mmm>^: 

^ 

;')^: 


m^i 


>*5l^'4 


fey;-'  '  ''•'r'^.'  •  iSBCtt,^^ 

•  ,'.,<■  •.'>:  fSf-  '-'i'^Jt«l 


^^^ 


P 


litiL. 


■  ■  ■■  l«- 


m 


'^wm>. 


